Long trip to sanity or “are we there yet?”
Why food?
After reading ‘Eating Animals’ by Jonathan Safran Foer, I revisited my own life and could totally agree with the book premise that our eating habits and tastes are being rooted in our upbringing. I was affected by the food my grandma prepared and the stories told around the dining table, that were mostly about food too. Being a third generation to World War II survivors, my life-long relationship with food is much deeper that most of my relationships with people. I used to (and still do) tease myself for being obsessed with this “shallow” subject, yet here I am writing about it now.
Love thy food!
Food was meant to be my passion. In my family so much talk was dedicated to food. What will we or did we make for dinner, for holidays, for next week, for guests. Food was not to be wasted, food was not to be thrown (unless there was real mold on it and it wasn’t Roquefort). It is always liberating to blame one’s parents for a childhood habit or addiction and I gladly followed this path through life struggling with health and weight issues. Why can’t I leave food on my plate, why do I finish not-so-fresh-or-tasty leftovers in the fridge, why do I stuff myself with random contents of my pantry when I am sad or bored. At times, I stopped to think and followed someone’s guidelines, tried numerous diets (limiting and short-lived), started harsh workout routines. Somehow I always fell back to the beginning, to that flabby little girl who always had to eat up what’s on her plate before going outside to play.
Regardless of the number I saw on the weight scale, I was rarely pleased with myself. I can say for sure that our pop culture plays its part in the matter. How would we know what is pretty or right or sexy, if we did not have the media in all its glory. Just like those fairy tales we are told when we grow up about the princess (to be saved) and the prince to find and save her, we build these images in our minds and they stuck there forever and ever, exactly like those pretty heroes end up in the story. So instead of fighting it, I decided to embrace it. Embracing the food-centered childhood, embracing my obsession with all things pretty, cute, and fluffy (later about that). All of this is an integral part of me.
This blog is about everyday. I am writing it for myself and I secretly (not secretly at all) hope it will reach other people and will entertain them, make them laugh or just remind them something about themselves, their hopes and dreams (no pathos intended), the importance of procrastination (first time I use this lovely word), and life in general.
The journey...
Not to dive into all the history of it in the introduction post , I will only say that I began the plant-based journey for energetic/health reasons and it was food-related mostly at first. Now, three years later, I am also trying to buy cruelty-free products when possible, because frankly it just makes me feel a better person.
If you cannot win ‘em, join ‘em and that is what I decided to do. Eventually, a year and a half ago, I joined the minority group of (spoiler alert!) self-righteous preachy a-hole mostly health-centered vegans and I never looked back.
This life style was started by me, but is currently shared by my best friend and life partner (the fact that makes me squeak from joy). This came as total surprise to both of us and is a whole other story to be told.
Since we believe in what we do, it doesn’t occur to us that we are depriving ourselves of any “earthly pleasures” and it is not hard at all. We are doing it for ourselves. Our health, our conscience.
Everyone can choose the truth that makes them live a better life, be it physically or mentally. We cannot , or better, should not tell anyone what is objectively (is there such thing?) healthier or better for them. We are doing our thing, sharing our truth and hoping someone will benefit from it the way we do.