Let Vegans Be Vegans

Vegans do not have eating disorders. Eating foods in a raw state isn't strange. Being conscious of our health and our diets isn't obsessive. I'm so confused by the twisted views of this way of living. There are people who are obsessive and have eating disorders who happen to be vegan. Or eat all their meals raw. There are all kinds of people living with awareness of their health and not obsessing about it. Now some have said I am obsessive because I won't have a piece of cake or won't just "give in" and have a burger. There are people that have strange rules they live by. Yet they are not called obsessive. Eating disorder is when there is a problem with the way a person eats. Disorder is used to describe a pattern of behavior that is harmful to a person. We often start down a path of a new regimen and sometimes "run with it." Like going to a new gym. Then we back off and reassess our new found practice and try different things. I've backed off raw foods for a bit, here and there over the years. Especially early on. It is good for perspective to change what we do in order to get a sense of where we are.

Are You Allowed To Eat This?

Often I find myself in groups of people at gatherings. Whether it is a birthday party or some other excuse for us to indulge. At these parties I hear people say things like "I hope dessert is good." Or, "I can't wait for dessert!" When asked about their eating habits, and how often they have dessert, they respond with something like this, "Oh, I have it at every meal. What can I say, I have a sweet tooth!" And I'm obsessive for eating a salad at every meal. People think I "have" to or that I don't enjoy it. Like there's a Nazi behind me with a rifle pointing at my head. "YOU VILL EAT ZEE SALAD!" Role reversal some how gets mixed up in all this. It's okay for one person to eat pizza everyday for lunch or have a snack/dessert after every meal, but not okay for people into health to practice positive repetitions of behavior. It's cute when little Johnny eats blue cereal every single morning for two years. It's weird to drink fresh vegetable juice everyday. Yeah, makes sense.

Location, Location, Location!

Am I obsessed with health or is the other mentality obsessed with seeing just how far they can stretch their own limits of abuse? Society has a strange way of looking at things. There's a bar every twenty feet selling POISON to anyone over the age of twenty one. Yet vegans are weird and obsessed. There's a Starbucks every six feet. Be careful! If you trip in the street you just might fall into someone's mocha frappacino. There's a McDonald's on every street. Every bodega sells nothing but crappy non-food and small section of food and flowers. How hard is it to find a "treat." You know what a treat is don't you? It's the thing most people eat every single frickin' day. It hurts their tummy. It makes them feel sick. But for that fleeting moment of false pleasure to this very temporary body. They go out and find their poison of choice. Just go over this very short list of poison outposts in every town. Sure, there was a time when different towns in the U.S. were actually different from one another. Not anymore. Where every you go! There they are! McDonald's, Burger King, Roy Rogers, Dunkin Donuts, Taco Bell, Starbucks! AND VEGANS ARE WEIRD AND OBSESSED?

Why Is Difference Met With Hostility?

There is no doubt that the human mind in a group setting, can be made to believe that anything is true. We will believe anything. By "we" I mean mainstream America. "We" believe that eating healthy is obsessive. "We" believe that taking care of one's health makes one a "health freak." What should we (the minority that cares about their health) call the rest of society, FAT AMERICA? Should people that go to the gym, eat well, meditate, practice yoga, etc., abuse the rest of society for not caring? For not wanting to better their lives? Of course not. It is everyone's choice to live how they like. Just leave the one's that want to feel better alone. We would rather not have to crawl to some doctor's office begging for drugs to fix what we didn't have the common sense to do ourselves. Maintain our health so we don't breakdown or simply care about our health. Care about how we live. Instead of obsessing over what "other's" are doing or not doing. I'm not even saying that those people that want to have their dessert are wrong or those that just don't care to think about health. They eat what they eat. They get sick. They don't get sick. They live. They die. Done. That's cool with me. Not that what I think matters, in the grand scheme of things. But I'm saying it's cool. It's all cool for people to live how they want to live. JUST STOP FOCUSING ON THOSE THAT DO CARE TO IMPROVE THEIR OWN LIVES.

Know Your Heart—Follow Your Truth

I know someone who is relatively new to eating vegan and raw, etc. They were faced with the idea that maybe this is too much or obsessive. I have this to say. Find yourself. Find your truth. Find what works for YOU. Not THEM. And most importantly, remember this; those of us choosing to live a vegan lifestyle are sort of trail blazers. We are leading a movement of health conscious people. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT! We are showing other's, including the boisterous, outspoken people who wrongly accuse us of being obsessive, a better way. It doesn't matter what other's think. It only matters how you want to live. Realization is a great thing. And perhaps you stepped into something that got ahead of itself. Perhaps a step back is exactly what is needed. The truth is. We are the normal ones. We are eating appropriately for our species. We (human beings) are not flesh eaters. We are plant eaters. And yet, somehow, at the end of the day, it's all as it is. What really matters, is that we all find our hearts and all find the things that get us through each day of this life. I choose to be vegan. I choose to be healthy. I choose to teach this way to other people. I do not care what anyone thinks of this way of life. Living in opposition to this lifestyle is also a choice. And to those who live without this knowledge, it is your loss. Yet perhaps the seeds we plant in our lively debates will one day blossom in your mind and show you this IS a great way to live.

Hey Wait! The Sun Was In My Eyes—Do Over!

Lets reset the game. Lets stop pretending drugs and junk-foods are the way to health. And that living blindly isn't what sends us to seek drugs to fix our ills. Lets be real. It's not obsessive to eat healthy. There are some that will obsess over this or anything, for that matter. Perhaps, living blindly, gambling everyday of your life is something to be examined. But that is not for me or anyone, vegan or otherwise to determine. It is up to the individual. So let vegans be vegans. As we let you be The Eaters Of The Dead. (A title of a Michael Crichton book)

Be well.

Tom DeVito