What Being a New Vegan Feels Like

 What Being a New Vegan Feels Like 

By: Megan

   Being a new vegan was a very unique experience for me. After finding out the truth about everything that goes on in the dairy, meat, and animal agriculture industry, I just wanted to tell everyone about what goes on. I had been blindsided by the media for 16 years and knew others were as well. What hurts me the most was I knew my friends and family believed what I believed for way too long and wanted to help them find the information that I had found. The problem was that they did not want to hear it. They were very stubborn on what they believed and no matter how loud I would shout they refused to listen. This is what most people would call a "pushy vegan." I do not think it is being pushy though. I equate it to how people used to think about child labor. People knew that it was wrong, but they were told it was fine and perfectly acceptable. When someone is told something over and over again, it starts to become a part of them and they believe it. When they find out the truth and horrors of it they become appalled. They start to tell everyone about it even though they do not believe it. It truly is a process of manipulation and that is how I felt.
     I was also incredibly scared. I would not tell anyone I was vegan because I was scared of how they would perceive me or that I would be made fun of. I had a vegetarian friend and because we live in a smaller rural county where hunting and fishing are the way of life, they were picked on a lot. I knew that I did not want that. I mean vegetarianism is one thing, but what was going to happen when everyone found out I was vegan? 
    Another constant feeling was that I was doing everything wrong. It was frustrating to misread a label and I felt like I was not good enough. I was not vegan enough. I also felt like every time I said something to people who knew I was vegan like "I ate ice cream yesterday" I would get told, "well I thought you were vegan." It was getting old to have to say every time "the vegan version." However, if I said "I ate vegan ice cream yesterday," I would be considered pushy. There was no winning. 
    Now, I am over all of it. People can think what they want to of me, I truly do not care. I feel more free and sure of my decision finally after being vegan for two years. To all of the new vegans, it will get better. 

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