I've become enamored with the idea of journaling again, mostly because it seems like more and more of my friends are recording their escapades in the new cities that they've moved to. I'm not quite at my new city yet, but I've wanted to write about this topic for a while so I've resurrected this blog spot to do it!
This past year, two rather monumental events happened. One, I decided to voluntarily move to the west coast and two, I decided to voluntarily become vegetarian/vegan. "Voluntary". The definition when you search for the term is, "done, given, or acting of one's own free will." When I see the term "free will", I instinctively jump back to a religious viewpoint, where it is stressed in Christianity that people are given free will. I'm also certain that other religions and the non-religious also embrace this idea of freedom of choice. But then, why are certain decisions, made entirely on free will, so heavily criticized?
I have come to the conclusion that unless an individual has no choice in a matter, that individual's decisions will always be placed under scrutiny. I believe that if I were involuntarily relocated to the west coast because of a new job, family, marriage, school, becoming a refugee of mass destruction of the east coast, I would be met with more understanding from some friends and family. I think it would suck less for them. Whatever thoughts they might have in their heads about not being good enough friends to keep me here, or me not loving my parents enough to want to stay closeby... all of those would be lessened because, hey, I HAVE to move away. I don't have a choice. But if I make the voluntary decision to move away, then speculation starts- suddenly character traits get tacked on that weren't there before. Selfish. Irresponsible. Uncaring.
I read an article recently about Jennifer Aniston and her response to criticism over not having any children. Here's the article: Childfree Jennifer Aniston
Based off of her interview, is it wrong for me to jump to the conclusion that if she was physically incapable of having children, she would endure less criticism for her own life choices?
Then, there are some choices that strangely, are accepted over others. Dislike peas and carrots? Don't worry, I won't cook them. Hate mushrooms? Don't worry, I'll leave it out. Don't want to eat meat? WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU WHY ARE YOU DYING A SLOW DEATH OF MALNUTRITION. When I go home to visit my parents, that's the reaction I get. My mom will cut a sliver of pork chop and coax, "just eat a little" as if I'm on a hunger strike. I assure you, I am actively eating more food these days because I have actually lost weight after becoming vegetarian. It's such a negative connotation associated with someone who voluntarily chooses to be different. Even this past weekend, hanging out with old friends and meeting new ones, this one guy just started referring to me in third person as "the Vegan" after hearing I didn't eat meat, which I feel is quite unfair because I didn't refer to him as "the Bigot".
Sometimes when I'm eating at restaurants or meeting new people, the topic of me being vegetarian will come up. People will usually ask why I became vegetarian. There are three mainstream answers, though there also appears to be a small population of people who are allergic to meat, but because they are involuntarily unable to digest the food, that answer is more acceptable. My two choices, however, are either "for dietary reasons - to lose weight" or "for moral reasons - I watched a documentary/read a book" or "for environmental reasons". In the past, I've always told the truth, I don't agree with the industry's treatment of animals- how they are born and raised just to be slaughtered for our benefit, and how even the labeling of Kosher doesn't mean too much better for these animals. I try not to eat too much seafood because of the fishing industry's netting techniques or their elimination of the actual natural predators of ocean prey for the sake of profit. It takes a enormously large amount of energy to grow one pound of meat versus one pound of vegetable. But whenever I try to explain this, I see the listener's eyes rapidly glaze over, they cross their arms and slowly inch away. This reaction reminds me of multiple other examples in life that have desensitized many people from caring for moral reasons. Next time you're watching TV with friends and Sarah McLachlan and her "Angel" song shows up on a commercial to talk about shelter animals, time how quick the operator of the tv remote changes the channel. Or next time you're stopped at a traffic light and a guy holding a cardboard is walking past all of the cars waiting in front of you, watch how each car tries to inch further up right as the guy passes the driver-side window. I'm starting to realize that my own boycott of meat is going to do squat in terms of changing the industry because other people will always just give a curt nod to my moral reasoning and then try to explain, "I just couldn't do it, I love it too much" or "I would offend my spouse's parents if I refused to eat the food they cooked". Instead, I'm beginning to entertain the idea of lying to strangers, saying I was 240 lbs before I became a vegetarian, and now I've dropped down to half that weight. I think with our society's remarkable ability to turn a blind eye to morality and instead, focus more on their body image insecurities, I may actually get people to become more conscious of how much they ingest. Not to cut out meat all together, but to be more observant of what exactly they're eating. Afterall, one of The Biggest Loser tips for losing weight and keeping it off is to keep a log of what you're intaking every day. It is an old tip that I had learned years ago from reading "French Women Don't Get Fat".
Anyway, as usual, I've digressed quite a bit, though in my mind I feel as if all of these separate topics are related to the idea of free will. I have extreme admiration and an "aww" feeling for all of the friends who have surprised me with their support of me moving (spare bedroom to come visit!) or have even changed their restaurant choices when I visit and drop the bombshell that I may only just eat the hamburger buns at a river side barbecue. By the way, if you're ever in Asheville, you MUST try this vegetarian/vegan restaurant called Plant. It is top notch.
