Yikes! It's been almost three weeks since my last post. Sorry to my readers but the internet issues have still not been resolved. That, coupled with me starting 40 hour weeks means I haven't really had a whole lot of opportunities for writing blog posts.
I'm happy to report that I'm still lactose free. I've been asked quite often in the last few weeks whether I'm on any medication, and it's certainly been strange to answer in the negative. Strange, but good. The basal body thermometre was purchased not long after my last post. My only complaint is that it beeps incessantly and when you're taking your temperature at 6 in the morning, it's not the most pleasant sound to the ears. So the FAM is well underway... I'm learning lots but I think I'll have to wait a few months as my body gets back into a natural rhythm and I can rely a bit more on its signals.
I've yet to start the Oil Cleansing Method. I've been waiting for the funds to be a little less tight so I can buy castor oil in bulk and give it a go. I'm super excited about it though, it's just one of those things that feels right without even trying it. On a similar note, a friend of mine brought the movement that is "No Pooing" to my attention. The idea is similar to the OCM in that shampoo actually strips the hair of its natural oils, meaning it overproduces and we need to clean it more often and so on and so forth in a positive feedback cycle. Apparently if you give your hair about 6 weeks to get over stopping shampoo cold turkey and find its own balance then you really have no need at all for shampoo. I should mention here that while I'm very tempted to give this a go, I also have hair that needs to be washed every day. It's very fine, but there's a lot of it and it greases up like you wouldn't believe. To top it off I've just started a new course at uni and figured that I wouldn't give off the best first impression if I were to rock up to class and/or clinics with a greaseball on my head. So for now, I've put the shampoo ban off until winter when I can wear beanies every day to disguise my lank locks.
While on the topic of hair, I've been tossing up in my head my future colour options. I haven't had my natural colour since I was 17 and I quite like it that way. Towards the end of the year however, funds will become extremely tight and it may be that colouring my hair is one of the areas that will be cut from the budget. Also, I'm aware that it's probably very unlikely that the products used at my hairdresser are vegan/ not tested on animals. This is truly where veganism and vanity are in conflict for me. A good vegan would source vegan hair colour or go au naturale immediately. But I am so insecure about the blah-ness of my natural colour that I'm really tempted to live out the next few months as one last hurrah before my financial situation forces my hand.
I hadn't planned to dye my hair for the rest of my life. I had it all worked out in my head. In a few years time, I would go from my dark locks to being a blonde again, and once I had children (and less time for hairdressers) it would be a relatively easy transition back to my real hair, light brown. But I'm dark at the moment, and aside from letting my roots grow out foryears or tinting my hair until it resembles brown (neither are really options) I'm not quite sure what to do. In a compromise between veganism and vanity I may have to sacrifice my vegan ideals for a few months and bleach my hair in order to transition smoothly to no colouring at all. Do the ends justify the means? I'll need to ponder it some more I think.
I'll end with my vegan 'moment' for the week. While having a discussion about high cholesterol with a member of my immediate family, I thought I'd throw a little vegany goodness into the mix. "You know what really reduces cholesterol? Eating no animal products." To which this person replied,"Well then what do you eat?" I'd better clarify that this person is intelligent, world-wise and full of common sense but this was not a joke. It was a serious criticism of my diet. Don't get me wrong, I'm no stranger to this kind of 'ignorance' but to hear it coming from someone who is quite familiar with my vegan diet, cooks vegan food for me and peruses vegan cookbooks to find good recipes just for my benefit was a big shock. As some fellow vegans mentioned, comments like this are usually a reflection of non-vegans' insecurities at their own diets when faced with your healthy changes. I'm not sure, but I really hope it's defensiveness and not close-mindedness.
Until the next time I have internet access and a spare moment,
Love.
Showing posts with label ignorance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ignorance. Show all posts
Thursday, 16 February 2012
Wednesday, 18 January 2012
What's wrong with this picture?
Ummm... all leather is recycled. I know the company using this image are trying to be 'environmentally friendly' but come on. Someone used that skin for their whole life. They sheltered under it. It kept them warm, it felt the cold. It protected them from the elements and from diseases and infections. Someone needed that skin. Someone's life depended on that skin until we killed them, tore it off them, processed it chemically for days and days to prevent decay and made it into something else for us to use secondhand. Something entirely less vital.
Sooooo yeah. All leather is recycled.
Saturday, 14 January 2012
The weight of the world
I can't quite remember where I first came across the idea of the 'joy of veganism', but it really resonated with me.
I've mentioned it before, but opening yourself up to the truth about animal products and the industries that churn them out can be quite overwhelming. The sheer degree of mass slaughter, imprisonment, torture, grief, fear and suffering that's involved is quite simply overwhelming. Sometimes it's even difficult to think about. It's depressing stuff, and the secrecy, human complicity and apathy of so many makes it quite hard to bear. But at the same time, a lovely gift came from my step into veganism. All of a sudden, due directly to my own actions, I was no longer involved. I was no longer responsible. I was no longer financially supportive of any of this suffering. The atrocities of which I was now aware were happening despite, and no longer because of, me. This means that although I sometimes get so upset that this pain continues, I tread a little bit lighter daily. I'm doing the best job that I can. It's a strange situation but I believe the more affecting it is to think of the negatives involved in animal industry, the more uplifting it is to distance yourself from that.
There is certainly a profound indescribable joy that comes from being a vegan.
I've mentioned it before, but opening yourself up to the truth about animal products and the industries that churn them out can be quite overwhelming. The sheer degree of mass slaughter, imprisonment, torture, grief, fear and suffering that's involved is quite simply overwhelming. Sometimes it's even difficult to think about. It's depressing stuff, and the secrecy, human complicity and apathy of so many makes it quite hard to bear. But at the same time, a lovely gift came from my step into veganism. All of a sudden, due directly to my own actions, I was no longer involved. I was no longer responsible. I was no longer financially supportive of any of this suffering. The atrocities of which I was now aware were happening despite, and no longer because of, me. This means that although I sometimes get so upset that this pain continues, I tread a little bit lighter daily. I'm doing the best job that I can. It's a strange situation but I believe the more affecting it is to think of the negatives involved in animal industry, the more uplifting it is to distance yourself from that.
There is certainly a profound indescribable joy that comes from being a vegan.
Friday, 6 January 2012
Gary Yourofsky
I have to sing the praises of this man. What an incredible speaker. I came across his video through a vegan group on Facebook, which is actually kind of funny, as I would think that his target audience is probably those who aren't vegan yet. The title of the clip is The Best Speech You Will Ever Hear, which is obviously a subjective claim, but the speech is pretty freakin' good. Gary is an amazing speaker, a knowledgeable guy and obviously very passionate about his cause, which in case you hadn't guessed by now, is veganism.
He's speaking to a group of university students, something he apparently spends a lot of his time doing, and presents in the short space of an hour basically every argument you could make for being a vegan. In my opinion, the environmental angle is slightly neglected, but he does a great job. The only part of the speech that I didn't appreciate was having to sit through the mountains of vegan food options widely available in American supermarkets. Jealous!
If I wasn't vegan or vegetarian before hearing Gary speak, then I would be afterwards. This is another one of those resources I wish I could share with everyone. It's a great video, really enjoyable for the most part and worth a watch even if you're already committed to the cause.
He's speaking to a group of university students, something he apparently spends a lot of his time doing, and presents in the short space of an hour basically every argument you could make for being a vegan. In my opinion, the environmental angle is slightly neglected, but he does a great job. The only part of the speech that I didn't appreciate was having to sit through the mountains of vegan food options widely available in American supermarkets. Jealous!
If I wasn't vegan or vegetarian before hearing Gary speak, then I would be afterwards. This is another one of those resources I wish I could share with everyone. It's a great video, really enjoyable for the most part and worth a watch even if you're already committed to the cause.
Wednesday, 4 January 2012
Earthlings
Health reasons weren't what got me off on this path in the first place. It was empathy.
As a child, I was acutely aware of the fact that I had empathy. I also knew that I had too much of it. My sensitivity to others was at times so overwhelming I used to wish I could be the complete opposite: heartless and indifferent, just so that I could have a break. I hope this doesn't sound conceited, but it's true. I used to stress about the ants I was inadvertently killing any time I walked outside. I was sensitive to a fault. So when I finally stopped the disconnect and realised I could no longer participate in animal slaughter, the floodgates opened, and becoming vegan was in hindsight a logical transition.
I've mentioned that the big moment for me was when I chose not to watch animal slaughter. This was nothing new or surprising, it was just that I'd never been presented with an opportunity before. When I found out about Earthlings through an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, researched it, and, of course, talked about it with my partner, there was no doubt in my mind that this was something I didn't want to see. I remember looking it up on IMDb for the content advisory: the film was basically non-stop slaughter. For those that haven't seen it, the film started out as a project led by director Shaun Monson who wanted to do an expose on the pet industry in America: puppy mills, unwanted animals and the like. But the final result is so much more. It focuses on how humans use animals for profit in five areas: pets, food, clothing, entertainment and science.
My partner ordered the DVD from the US, and there was a quote on the package that made me realise I was being selfish. I've said it before, but I'll say it again: "We must not refuse with our eyes what they must endure with their bodies." So I sat down on the couch, legs tucked in, heart racing in nervous anticipation, peeking out from behind a cushion. I later had to drop the cushion because I needed my hands to hold tissues instead. I cried during this film, I cried the entire way through. I had to really fight to keep it together enough that I could continue watching, because every instinct in me was telling me to curl up on the floor in a ball, shut my eyes tight and bawl my heart out.
Earthlings has been nicknamed "the vegan maker" for good reason. I was already vegan, but Bryce Dallas Howard summed it up really well when she said, "Watching Earthlings is the greatest gift I have ever received. I cannot believe how ignorant I have been in the past."
This film is a miracle, it really is. It's insane the degree to which we humans live in total ignorance, happily consuming, consuming, consuming without even a second thought as to where our steak, our eggs, our jacket, our furniture or our pets come from, or what is behind our makeup, our soap, our zoos and our circuses. It's frightening, disgusting, but above all absolutely heartbreaking. To echo Bryce Dallas Howard, I am truly so glad I know what I do so that I can choose not to be a part of it.
As a child, I was acutely aware of the fact that I had empathy. I also knew that I had too much of it. My sensitivity to others was at times so overwhelming I used to wish I could be the complete opposite: heartless and indifferent, just so that I could have a break. I hope this doesn't sound conceited, but it's true. I used to stress about the ants I was inadvertently killing any time I walked outside. I was sensitive to a fault. So when I finally stopped the disconnect and realised I could no longer participate in animal slaughter, the floodgates opened, and becoming vegan was in hindsight a logical transition.
I've mentioned that the big moment for me was when I chose not to watch animal slaughter. This was nothing new or surprising, it was just that I'd never been presented with an opportunity before. When I found out about Earthlings through an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, researched it, and, of course, talked about it with my partner, there was no doubt in my mind that this was something I didn't want to see. I remember looking it up on IMDb for the content advisory: the film was basically non-stop slaughter. For those that haven't seen it, the film started out as a project led by director Shaun Monson who wanted to do an expose on the pet industry in America: puppy mills, unwanted animals and the like. But the final result is so much more. It focuses on how humans use animals for profit in five areas: pets, food, clothing, entertainment and science.
My partner ordered the DVD from the US, and there was a quote on the package that made me realise I was being selfish. I've said it before, but I'll say it again: "We must not refuse with our eyes what they must endure with their bodies." So I sat down on the couch, legs tucked in, heart racing in nervous anticipation, peeking out from behind a cushion. I later had to drop the cushion because I needed my hands to hold tissues instead. I cried during this film, I cried the entire way through. I had to really fight to keep it together enough that I could continue watching, because every instinct in me was telling me to curl up on the floor in a ball, shut my eyes tight and bawl my heart out.
Earthlings has been nicknamed "the vegan maker" for good reason. I was already vegan, but Bryce Dallas Howard summed it up really well when she said, "Watching Earthlings is the greatest gift I have ever received. I cannot believe how ignorant I have been in the past."
This film is a miracle, it really is. It's insane the degree to which we humans live in total ignorance, happily consuming, consuming, consuming without even a second thought as to where our steak, our eggs, our jacket, our furniture or our pets come from, or what is behind our makeup, our soap, our zoos and our circuses. It's frightening, disgusting, but above all absolutely heartbreaking. To echo Bryce Dallas Howard, I am truly so glad I know what I do so that I can choose not to be a part of it.
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