Focus

Hello veganauts!  I had a very relaxing vacation from the ole’ blog but I am excited to be back at the keyboard.  Like most of my vacations, I spent a lot of time thinking about what I was taking a break from.

What was I doing at EPCOT?  Thinking about the perfect vegan entree for Micky Mouse to add to the different restaurants at each country in the World Showcase.  What was I doing while hiking?  Thinking about how much easier it is to be vegan instead of omni when being outdoorsy.  What was I doing at the poker table?  Thinking about how vegans stack the odds in their favor with a healthy lifestyle.  And winning.  Always winning.

When I first started writing this blog back in 2011 I was documenting my transformation as I joined the strange and confusing cult of veganism.  I was prepared for almost any bizarre thing that was thrown at me.  However, what I never anticipated was how quickly the new lifestyle would seem normal and the old lifestyle would seem foreign.  The jaw dropping changes and horrific sacrifices that I feared have become so commonplace that I can’t remember what I was afraid of before.  Except for Brussels sprouts… I’m still terrified of those.

One of the blog related topics that rattled around in my head during my break was focus.  It came to me while I was mowing the lawn.  [Side note: Eat your heart out snow covered veganauts- I was even mowing in shorts!]

My new focus: I want to help the veggie-curious.  I don’t want to talk people into anything- I’ll leave that up to the massive vegan propaganda machine that is already in place.  What I’m more interested in is being a guide for the people that have decided it is time to kick the meat, dairy, and eggs.  I am an expert veganaut now and I’d like to use my skills to help guide people through the rocky patches and around the quicksand.  I’m like a Saint Bernard with a cask of quinoa around my neck.

My desire to help others find the Vegan Golden Fleece isn’t new but my desire to focus on helping them is.

We are at the time of year when recently overcrowded gyms are beginning to empty out, nicotine patch sales are plummeting, and forgotten gratitude journals are collecting their first of many layers of dust. Since a lot of people made plant-based resolutions for the new year, I thought it might be a good time to reach out and offer some advice and encouragement before it’s too late.

Advice: It’s never too late. If you tried to adopt a plant-based diet or a vegan lifestyle you do not need to give up just because you ate a cheese pizza. You are not a failure.  You will not be shunned.  We don’t revoke your card.

Many vegan explorers feel that a mistake equals failure.  It is not failure.  However, using that mistake as an excuse to stop trying is failure.  If you are sincere in your desire to stop eating meat and animal products then nothing should stop your march forward.  If a fish dinner gets in your way, don’t beat yourself up over it.  Put it behind you and carry on.  If you eat a ham-n-cheese omelet, don’t follow that up with years of cheeseburgers to punish yourself for a mistake.  You follow it up with years healing plant-based foods to reward yourself for trying.

You have the power to forgive yourself and to shield yourself from excuses.  It isn’t easy being an herbivore at first but after a while you start to wonder what all the fuss was about in the first place.  Just stay calm… and veganaut on.

Here Comes 2013

The last wisps of 2012 are drifting into history.  There is a cocky new year strutting around the globe, one time zone at a time, acting like it owns the place.  People are calling it 2013 and there seems to be no stopping it.

I am happily watching the action from my trusty time zone map.  It is a personal New Years Eve tradition that was meant to be a family tradition but it bores my poor family to tears so I mostly keep it to myself now.

Each New Years Eve I wake up and locate where on Earth it is already 2013 and I mark it on my map.  I’m usually up and moving by the time Western Australia is setting off fireworks while riding kangaroos and great white sharks or what ever they do to celebrate.  From there, I cross out the time zones every hour as I excitedly watch the new year circumnavigate the globe.

For me this is an annual event that reaffirms my decision to participate in a system used by the society I live in.  My tradition signifies that I agree to be a part of measuring time using the Gregorian calendar and the 24 hour clock like most people on Earth.  I don’t have to buy into this system though.  The measurement of time is a human invention and can be accomplished in many different ways.  I could create a very effective way to measure time using increments of 9 called Jason time.  However, I consciously decide to use the standard time system.  It is flawed but functional and it doesn’t really hurt anyone.

I think most omnivores blindly accept the standard diet the same way most people blindly accept the standard time system.  I know that I did.  When you grow up eating animals and animal products you don’t question it.  It is what your family eats, your friends eat, your classmates, the people on TV and in movies, it’s on the menu and in the stores.  It takes a lot of effort to step outside of the system and look at it critically.  It is only after you realize that you don’t have to be a part of standard system that you can begin to make honest choices about which system you want to be a part of.  For me, this meant seeing the reality of the system I was a part of and then consciously deciding to change- to rebuild my belief system and my palate.

There are many different ways that I could measure time- I know this and I accept the norm.  There are many different ways to feed my body- I know this and I choose to be a herbivore.  Knowing that you have a choice allows you to make a choice.  I am not convinced that everyone knows they have a choice when it comes to the “normal” way society eats.

As 2013 marches closer and closer to my comfy chair in the Eastern Standard Time Zone, I am getting more and more excited about what the new year will bring.  I am optimistically hoping that a large percentage of the world population will realize they have a choice in how they nourish their bodies and choose a compassionate way to do so.

Happy New Years Eve Veganauts!!