“Why did you stop being vegan?” This common personal question I hear comes from a wide number of people. The answer to it holds a variety of my personal experiences, of which I can seek to describe.
Have you heard of e-prime? I feel entirely impressed on the rare occasions I come across someone who knows about e-prime. The purpose of ‘priming the English language’ stems from acknowledging the need for subjective communication as opposed to objective statements. E-prime removes the absolutist ‘is’ and all its conjugated forms. This idea fascinated me and I adhered to my efforts in speaking and writing in e-prime as much as I valued and adhered to my strict vegan lifestyle and food choices.
My experience with both veganism for seven full years and e-prime for about as long brought wonderful change, wisdom and diversity into my life. During that time my education into the healing arts (healer heal thyself) along with another major life transition allowed me the time, space and energy to look deeper into my sense of identity, my truest values, my greatest hopes and my ability to connect with the life around me (people, animals, nature).
I examined my belief systems, my health, my relationships and my spirituality. I witnessed how much work I had to do on myself, the heaviness of my judgements towards society and my self-centered ego. I felt the ungrounded unease in my body, a greater respect for humanity and a vast awareness of the meat industry. I battled with the fear of being judged and of needing to make changes for myself that reflected my knowledge, that felt right inside, that challenged my limits and allo
wed me to make choices that integrated my heart with that of the earth’s.
Holding a uKa cricket protein bar, wearing a rabbit bone earring
Now, I do choose to buy and cook organic local grassfed meats, I do seek to make use of all the animal and I do eat chicken feet (a rich source of collagen) and organ meat. I continue to eat many vegan meals and I love learning about different cultures and opening my mind to the vastness of sustainable protein sources, such as crickets. Yes, I do eat crickets. I love hearing about people choosing to adapt vegetarian and vegan lifestyles and I am delighted to work with them to ensure that they can reach their goals and live their own personal values. When meeting with any client, I remove my personal judgement so that I may listen and truly hear the person and I feel immensely grateful to do so.
Finally, I choose to write this blog post in e-prime. I frequently draw from all that I gained from writing and speaking in e-prime, much as I do from my time living vegan.
