It's Monday, so here's what I believe in...

I will be brief today, as time's gotten away from me the past few days. It's Monday, so here's a little post in the Bold and True series. Read about it here, and join in! Feel free to leave links to your blogs if you'd like to post or share anything that you believe in, or are proud of.

Today, I'll just share briefly about something that is core to who I am, and incredibly important to me. I share it not to convince you I'm right. But again, it's something that I really really believe in, and that I'm proud is a part of my life. Please please please if you don't agree don't think I'm saying that you're wrong, or that I'm judging you. I really don't see it like that. I'm just sharing something that's important to me, as a way of sharing a big part of myself.

I'm a vegetarian, and have been for 10-12 years. I believe that this is the right thing for me intellectually, physically, nutritionally, spiritually, morally, environmentally, consciously, and in every way possible. It is about so much more than food, it's about so much more than nutrition, it's a completely all encompassing thing that's a part of my life. To me it's the healthiest for my body. To eat the plentiful plant proteins that the earth provides, is healthier. To alter your diet to rely more on these natural, fiber enriched foods, and less on the extreme foods, is healthier. To me it's healthier for the earth. If you continue to drive a car, but give up eating meat for the rest of your life, you will have saved more fossil fuels than if you stopped driving your car but continued eating meat. The most common way of producing meat is just that wasteful. To me it's the best thing spiritually. If you don't take animal life to nourish your own, it puts you in a more understanding and compassionate realm of possibility. I cannot imagine ever eating meat. And while it's nutritionally incredibly sound to eat a vegetarian diet, even if it wasn't, I wouldn't start eating meat. I don't understand how people can go back to eating meat after giving it up, unless they haven't developed the same feeling about it as I have. To me, also, not eating meat helps you raise your consciousness a little. To me dissociating from what that thing on your plate is, helps you dissociate from more things in your life. And not dissociating from it and eating it anyway I can't imagine doesn't break your soul just a little bit. I think there's a reason why a lot of the spiritual groups or religions in the world require their monks, spiritual leaders, or followers to live a vegetarian lifestyle. But - I completely understand that not everyone feels about it like I do.

Those are the things that I believe, anyway. I am a slightly small statured woman who healthily birthed a 9 1/2 pound baby boy who's hardly ever been sick a day in his life, who's made entirely out of plants. By being careful, understanding nutrition, and being willing to make it one focus in my life, I was able to find foods that help build up our iron levels, build up our strength, and build up our spirit whenever we need recharging. And, frankly, it's not very hard.

I eat local eggs, I drink local raw milk, and any dairy or honey, or any other animal products I do use, I try to only use when they're local and humane. Humane is more important to me than organic, even though they usually come together.

All that said, people who do want to eat meat, who raise their own animals or in some way ensure those animals live a healthy life, I admire. But I still say, you're still taking a life to nourish your own. I believe, in this day and age, that's not necessary. If food were scarce and my son was hungry? I'd hunt to feed him. But I would cry if I had to eat it myself. One thing that makes me incredibly sad, is that I believe that if most people really saw how so many animals that are raised for meat suffer, not in their death but in their life, that we wouldn't allow it. I'm not saying we would all give up meat or commercial eggs or commercial dairy, but we would understand that we needed to care for these creatures better, and take a stand to make it happen.

Have a wonderful Wintery week. We have snow here!