So, lately I have really been having an internal struggle on going vegan. Whenever I mention it, people around me
I have to tell you about this horrific nightmare I had. But first, I have to share some background on why I think I had this dream. This is going to be long so grab a cup of tea and relax.
First of all, my husband loves to hunt. I am not fond of his habit at all and he knows he is not allowed to talk about any killing he does. I don't want to hear it and I don't want to hear him talking about it to other people. The other day, my dad was over and Tommy was telling him about the two deer that he killed. I was getting ready to leave for work and I had a massage scheduled that afternoon because I have been having problems with my back. Don't you know during that entire hour, all I could think about were those sweet deer walking through the woods and he kills them. - just a side note, I do not want to hear from ANYONE on why we should kill the deer! This is my blog and I don't want to hear any of it because trust me, I've heard it all-
We also have deer that walk through our yard and Tommy buys feed for them. Feed one animal and kill another.......
About a month ago, we adopted a doberman.
This is Maggie.
We obviously can't afford bigger beds so she sleeps in Gabbie's bed. I couldn't believe she curled herself up on that bed and I was able to get a picture before she moved. So cute!!
We had to put down our Chocolate lab, Levi, several months ago and our Doberman, Meeka needed a new friend.
This is Meeka peeking through the cat door.
Maggie seemed like a perfect fit. After having Maggie for four days, we found out she is heartworm positive. She has been for a year and a half. My husband and I were in shock and really weren't sure what we were going to do at first. Then, we came to our senses and decided that she came to us for a reason and we were going to fix her. Our neighbor is a vet and after talking to him about it decided to start treatment. Treatment at a sum of $1400 and she has a 70% chance of survival. Sooooo, in my mind, I have a hard time understanding how you can spend $1400 on one animal yet go in the woods and kill other animals. They are all lovely creatures that deserve to live.
See what I"m saying here?!
Back to my dream.....one more thing I have to share first.....
This is Gabbie (the black one) and Beanie (the red one)
I had a dream that I was eating Gabbie. I HAD A DREAM I WAS EATING GABBIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was eating her like you would an apple. I was tearing into her flesh and ripping it from her body while she looked at me with those adorable buggy eyes and all I was thinking in my dream was, "don't worry it won't hurt for long."
WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON??????? I TORE HALF OF THE SKIN OFF HER HEAD!!
WHY???!!!
This dream is so disturbing in so many levels. I told my husband about the dream and without hesitation he says, "Sounds like you should start eating meat." WHAT?!?!?!?! Did you just really say that to me! Sounds like you should fall out of a tree while hunting. No I'm just kidding honey!!!!!!!
All creatures deserve to live and to me eating salmon or cheese isn't any different than eating our pets. That's what I took out of the horrific nightmare.
I am a vegetarian and I eat dairy, cheese and sea food. I am a pescetarian (eat sea food) and an lacto-ovo vegetarian (eat dairy,eggs) The fact that I eat sea food and call myself vegetarian makes some vegetarians freak out. If it has eyes, we shouldn't eat it. When I first became vegetarian I did not eat sea food. Then after a year or so, I began to crave it. I do believe our bodies crave foods for a reason and so I decided to add that to my diet. Oh I will have to share my story on salmon fishing sometime (this blog is already getting long enough)
It has been almost 10 years since I have gone vegetarian and lately, I am feeling more and more guilty about eating fish and dairy. Did you know in most cheese there is something called Rennet. It is used to aid in coagulation of cheese. It comes from the stomach lining of young calves, but they are not killed specifically to get it; veal is the main reason. You can get cheese without rennet. It is called rennin and comes from vegetable sources. Your cheese must say vegetarian for it to not have the rennet in it.
When I did my 42 day challenge, it was vegan and I have to say I felt the best I have felt in a long time. I used to think cheese was the biggest obstacle but quite honestly, it's the half and half I put in my coffee every morning. I probably only use a tablespoon and I've tried non dairy substitutes and it's just not the same.
Oreos are vegan. I could just put those in my coffee.
Peace and Love,
j
Be kind to the creatures around you friends.
I've been vegan for a bit over a year now, so feel free to message me about any aspects of it (or just recipes!).
ReplyDeleteI could go on for days about this, but I'll try to summarize: I really think most people just don't sit and think about this... a disconnect. We are programmed by the people with the big money as society to think that a meal must include a big hunk of meat, lots of cheese, and be washed down with milk. They even convince people that milk is good for bones when it causes osteoporosis and that we need animal protein when we can get it from plants without all the saturated fat and other ickiness. No one wants to think about how the animals lived and were slaughtered. It's really not pleasant. Some people try to assuage their conscious by saying things like oh, I got grass fed beef. The fact of the matter is there's really no way to make slaughter compassionate.
I started on the vegan road for health reasons but now I'm on board with the ethical reasons as well. When I sat and thought about it I realized that we really don't NEED anything from animals. Why have them suffer when it's not even for a legitimate need? It's sad that in cases like milk, wool, and eggs where it shouldn't hurt the animals, they are abused and hurt. It's all fueled by greed. The standard diet is not good for people or animals.
And here is the irony of it all: we kill animals that might harm the animals meant for eating. We decimate the environment around us to feed the animals we eat. More time and energy are spent feeding these animals than a lot of people. Then after all this money and time, we kill the animals and then doing so slowly kills us. Then we spend money and experiment on/torture other animals to try to cure diseases caused by eating animals in the first place.
It's just not logical. Point this out to people when they freak out about the prospect of you going vegan. You are being the logical one here.
Katie
I love your comment, "The we spend money and experiment on/torture other animals to try to cure diseases caused by eating animals in the first place." That statement is so true and why don't more people see that?! Thanks for your comments Katie. Is the area you live in Vegan friendly?
ReplyDelete