Day One

OK, I cannot tell a lie...it's not really my first day of veganism. That day actually took place about a week ago...but I didn't get the idea to blog about my progress until today. So, after my little introduction, I'll browse through the mental pictures in my mind , of the meals and snacks I've prepared since that fateful day. But first, a bit about myself and how I've come to the decision to follow this path...a path which so many people disagree with, don't fully understand and, oftentimes, find completely absurd and outrageous.

My name is Sandra. I was raised in the United States in a strictly German/Swiss (yes, Swiss...not Swedish) traditional household. My mother embodies the stereotypical strong-willed German woman (would you believe that her name is Helga? It is.) while my father, Heinz (yes, like the ketchup), truly does exude the peaceful, neutral Swiss nature we've all heard of.

In the aforementioned household, the food reflected (and still does, actually) the heritage. Meat, potatoes and veggies or salad comprised every single meal without fail and no one would have thought it to be anything than what it was. Leave it to me to be the "different one". While everyone else's meat melted in their mouths...mine hardened and dried so that there was no other alternative for me than to spit it into a napkin I religiously kept nearby (hidden under the table). You have no idea how many times I was caught mid-spit and forced to keep the meat in my mouth (or put it back into my mouth...yuck!) and continue to chew it until it dissolved enough so that I was able to swallow it. Oh, how I hated (OK, I don't hate).... Oh, how I strongly disliked having to do that. There were so very many times that I thought I'd choke or throw up...and, of course, there were those times when I really did. :)

But, it wasn't just the fact that I couldn't stand the taste of meat that made me convert (don't get me wrong...I'd eat a greasy McDonald's hamburger any time in those days). It was also and most importantly the treatment (or mistreatment) of farm animals that sickened me. You've seen them...those trucks on the highways that transport cows and pigs from farm to slaughterhouse? The ones whose metal sidings no longer resemble metal at all because of all of the feces caked on them? The ones where the animals slip and slide on feces covered floors as the drivers uncaringly slam on the breaks as they come up to stop lights and stop signs? I thought about how scared those animals must be not knowing where they were going or why the ground beneath them was moving the way it was. I thought about my cats and compared the cows and pigs to them, remembering how they shivered as I drove them to their yearly vaccinations at the vet. My cats had me to comfort and protect them though. My cats got to go back home with me.

Those pigs and cows were on route to their death. Can you imagine the fear they must have felt? Then, my thoughts went further...they were slaughtered while in a state of fear. That can't be good. Not for them, nor for those of us who ate them. There is a big difference between hunting for food and mass murdering it. The Native Americans used to hunt, taking only what they needed and then moving on so that the land and the herds on it could replenish themselves. Before their deaths, I could imagine that the hunted animals felt fear as well, but it wouldn't have been felt for as long as those which were being transported cross-country smothered in their own crap...waiting to die. I imagined their fear transferring from them, into the cuts of meat made of their carcasses, into my mouth to become a part of me? Is that what I wanted for myself? To support an unfeeling, money hungry industry and in the process, take on the negative energies exuded by these poor animals which were being treated without dignity and respect? No. It wasn't. In looking back on all of this now, I see that it was at that moment that I truly began respecting myself.

So, at the age of 23, I decided to say goodbye to meat for good. I had no issues with letting go...none, whatsoever. Of course I was constantly being bombarded by people telling me how crazy I was, that I was going to get sick and become deficient in all sorts of vitamins and minerals and most certainly protein. So, partially to please them and partially because I simply didn't take the time to do enough research to calm my own mind, I continued to keep fish as my main source of protein for another fourteen years but, at the age of 37, after many years of consideration, I quit eating fish as well. No more food with a face.

I'm 38 now, and ready to go vegan. About 10 days ago I picked up a book called 'The Kind Life' by Alicia Silverstone. I flipped through the first quarter of the pages in the aile of the bookstore and as is often the case, landed on exactly the page I was meant to read right then and there. Surely you've experienced those moments? The ones in which the whole universe aligns just for you so that you can clearly hear and 'get' the message you are meant to get at that very second in time?

Well, for me what did it, was reading about how I was still continuing to support that same unfeeling, money hungry industry I so despised by buying milk, eggs and cheeses. How could I have overlooked the fact that dairy and chicken farms treat their animals just as cruely as those who send them out to slaughterhouses? How could I have thought that dairy cows were any cleaner or happier than their meat-sacrificing counterparts? Besides, you know how cheese clogs you up and constipates you? Well, that got me thinking too. What is all that cheese I'm eating on a daily basis (I'm European remember...cheese is like a lifeline for us :) ) really doing to my intestines and not to mention, my colon? Whatever it is...it can't be good. So, that was it. No more food with a face, and now, no more food that came from a face.

Here's my story...I welcome you to become a part of it and would so love to hear your comments (please keep them nice). It's my hope that this blogspot will not only be a place for me to record my vegan progresses and downfalls, but also a place of teaching as well as learning about alternative lifestyles. I want to heal the world, to make it healthier and greener, more positive and beautiful and loving in all respects. I'm herewith challenging myself to change my life right along with my eating habits. Healing the world begins with healing myself...I get that. So, here goes....