I have been quiet lately. In some ways I’ve been aching to get back to this space and express again, and yet there is so much keeping me busy and fulfilled in the other parts of my life, that I don’t need it here like I used to. There are seaons and this is just one of mine.
In this particular season I am undergoing a strange transformation and I think it’s called maturing into full adulthood. Maturing into full adulthood for me, though, has had interesting side effects, and I can honestly say that I am happier in this time of my life than I’ve ever been before. So much of it has to do with opening my eyes and educating myself about nutrition and health, oddly enough, and I’ve hesitated to really express it here lest this blog turn into post after post about, well, FOOD.
I’m not really sure how it happend. I guess it all started with some food documentaries we watched several months back. One was about Veganism (called
Vegucated), and I can’t remember the other one but it was about farming and the importance of supporting local farms and really getting aquainted with your food - making it personal. Now, I don’t really have plans to go Vegan, but YOU GUYS. I beg you to educate yourself, TODAY, THIS WEEK about the common factory-farming meat practices in this country and our world. Ignorance of it is not OK and it’s not an excuse. It is absolutely discpicable what we do to animals raised for food, and I was forever changed after aquiring this knowledge. After watching Vegucated, I cried. Hard. And didn't sleep well for days. I was devastated by what I learned, because my heart is for animals. I was sickened and horrified and so sad that I’d been ignorantly buying in to this system my whole life - as are so many others of us who simply don’t want to know. It’s a system that will only be perpetuated unless as many of us as possible do what we can to make a difference (and the simplest, easiest way is with our dollars - the products we buy at the grocery store).
Yes, this maturing into adulthood I mentioned has had a great deal to do with opening my eyes to the world I live in and not simply being a blind consumer. As I’ve inched away from my old, disengaged way of being, it’s as if blinders have come off and I can suddenly see the way I used to fumble around in the dark along with most other Americans, feeding my body absolute shit that contributed to my terrible PMS and bad skin, as well as supported a system that tortures animals and treats them like machines that feel no pain, suffering, or fear. There are tears rolling down my cheeks as I write this, because that’s how passionately I feel about it and that’s how glad I am to no longer be feeding my body with FEAR.
Besides what I’ve learned about animal cruelty in food production, I’ve learned other interesting and helpful things, about gardening and farmer’s markets and bees and healthy, whole foods straight from the Earth. We’ve had decent luck with our first organic backyard garden, and food has become so much more personal to me, versus this soul-less thing you buy at the grocery store and often let go to rot in your veggie drawer because there’s just no connection there. We waste so much less now because A) we can’t afford it due to the new way we grocery-shop, B) we’ve developed a taste for fresh, healthy food, and C) much of it is coming from our own garden and that’s just cool.
I’d like to talk more about all of this - I have so much to say about it, but I felt like I needed to generally introduce this topic first, then tackle smaller topics down the road. Basically, when something changes my life in such a positve way, I want to spread the word! I want you to experience this too! But obviously I can’t force anyone to care, I can’t make it be magically the time in your life when you’re open and available for this information and the eventual lifestyle change that follows. But I can plant the seed, and I can tell you it’s really nice on the other side. I’m nowhere near where I want to be in my knowledge of living a healthy life and supporting humane practices, but it’s this thing I’m pursuing every day and learning a little more and a little more about.
I encourage you to watch documentaries like
Vegucated,
Earthlings, and
Food Inc. I haven’t seen the latter two yet, but I’ve heard they are very compelling. Those will give you a push in the right direction. Just watching
THIS TRAILER might be all you need to make a serious change. Like us, you may not be willing to go full vegan or even vegetarian, but rest assured there ARE ways to remain a meat-eater but not buy into cruelty that exists in the meat industry. I’m compiling a list of things I’m now doing to help make a difference, and will post about it ASAP. Stay tuned…
