As of December 1st, 2011 the solid line is drawn and I’m officially “a vegan”.
wiggity what?!?
This decision came on suddenly and it came on strange, but I know it’s a lifestyle I need to explore and experience.
A cataclysmic event occured about a month ago… when I went for a sushi dinner at a less than 5 star establishment (I usually don’t mess around with 3 or 4 star sushi). I ordered and ate a unagi (eel) roll, some soybeans and salmon. When I walked out of the place I was full. So full, apparently, that I felt like something was trying to come up my throat. Nothing about this feeling made me want to vomit as it didn’t feel like a physical something in my throat.
Bare with me here. As I felt a somehow non-physical squirming in my throat all I could think of was…that’s an eel. THE eel. The one I ate. Even though it was sliced and diced by the chef, then chewed up in my mouth by me, it felt as though it had re-pieced itself together in my esaphogas and was trying to escape.
Needless to say, it wasn’t pleasant… and uncomfortable images of eels swam in my head for a few hours after that meal. Normally when I eat food and meat, in particular, I’m not very conscious of it in any other form than what is before me. In the last some odd years I’ve definitly paid more attention to where my food comes from, if it’s “organic”, local, etc. However, being really conscious of what I consume just hasn’t been apart of things.
The following day I started to feel intense pains in my stomach. Maybe it was a type of food poisoning but the only reason that food was poisoned is because it was an animal and humans poisoned them! It felt deserved to me.
It was in the middle of my standing-work shift when the pain came, in intervals. I had to hunch over a counter or on the floor whenever it struck. When it started at first I began seeing the eel images again with my eyes closed. As it continued- more living animals like chickens and lambs were flooding my mind. Mass numbers of them and they were not happy. The pain I felt was their pain and the images were cries for help. Then it would stop completely, I’d stand back up and all the thoughts would vanish…but the memory remained. This went back and forth for about an hour.
That day I thought about becoming vegan, for the first time. Over the next couple weeks I remained open to the idea but was iffy. Alas, “signs” and affirmations of veganism kept showing up in my life. I didn’t take it lightly.
The effect animal product consumption has on the land, animals and people are all just out.of.control. I researched healthy and balanced vegan diet plans, watched informative videos and documentaries, talked to vegans, read articles on elephant journal and then decided- yep…vegan time.
As far not being able to eat certain yummy foods like cheese- yeah that’s a fact of the matter, but some things outweigh individual desires and this is certainly one of them. Debates on the topic of veganism being “right” or “wrong” are not on my agenda whatsoever. If people are interested in it either way- there is plenty of real information out there.
In a quantum and Chinese medicine perspective- “you are what you eat” has very true meaning. Every particle in every thing we eat holds its own energy vibration as a result of it’s process through space and time. When we consume food it literally becomes apart of us on the energetic level.
In 2012 I’ll begin seeing patients/clients as I start my acupuncture student clinic internship. It makes sense to me to think that the cleaner I am energetically than the better able I’ll be to facilitate great treatment and outcomes for the people who I work with. This is another motivating/inspiring factor that veganism has for me. This is a commitment which I will stick with through the New Year. After that, I’ll evaluate where things are at and potentially re-introduce some animal products like eggs and fish into my diet.
The belief that I’m formulating is that I should eat only what I have the ability to grow (& praise), catch (& praise), etc. Basically know -exactly- Where? Who? and How? when it comes to what is on my plate. Then, always holding respect and gratitude for that food and its journey to becoming apart of me. That bridge will be crossed if and when it appears. For now, it’s time to cleanse.
☮ Pilgrimage to Balance ☯ 