The Shaw Garden

It is here, and I was too lazy and distracted to post yesterday, which means I might have to post twice in a day, or continue to be lazy and only post every so often. I am hoping that in posting, I will get back to it and start a regular posting schedule again.

I decided for my first post I was going to talk about why I am vegan, what lead me here, and why it is right for me.

When I was 18 I was friends with a girl named Amy, she was vegetarian. I decided to give it a whirl. I already didn't eat that much meat and it was a lifestyle that I completely agreed with. It stuck. Then I started college and a couple years in I had this great professor, John Simecek. He was vegan and he used his classroom to introduce people to veganism. He and I became good friends and I decided I wanted to be vegan. It was definitely hard at first. Grocery shopping took twice as long, since I had to read every label. I was so incredibly passionate and every conversation turned into something about veganism. I am surprised I maintained a single friend during this time. I was die-hard and if you weren't willing to at least try and change, I probably wasn't going to talk to you much. I was vegan for about two years, then I moved back near Flint. I didn't know any other vegans there and for some reason I decided that I wanted to start eating dairy again, so, I did.

When I went back to school for my second degree, I played around with veganism several times. I would decide to start my path towards veganism again, and then there would be tests or projects or extra shifts at work and I would need to eat something, and I would eat something that wasn't vegan. I would get frustrated with myself, but I also realized that maybe it wasn't the right time because I was clearly not dedicated enough.

Last May I moved to DC. I met Carolyn, who is vegan and we became really good friends. She told me about this wonderful messageboard called The Post Punk Kitchen. I would look at recipes every once in awhile, but I still didn't know about being vegan. Then, one day, it clicked. At the beginning of April I decided that it was time. I was ready, I was at a good place in my life and I didn't have a lot of distractions. More than anything it is the diet and lifestyle that works best for me. I feel the best when I am vegan, I sleep better, I feel good about the choices I am making. I also have started to think more about where my food comes from, how it was grown, who is affected by my choices. After making the switch, my decision was cemented further when I realized how easy it was! I had this great forum where I could talk to like-minded people, I made a lot of friends in DC that are also vegan and it has helped me feel better about my yoga practice. I think that being vegan in this city is a piece of cake. There are so many options when you go out to eat or grocery shop and people here actually know what a vegan is! It is also great to have friends and family that support me and love it when I make them yummy baked goods!