I remember when I decided to go vegan at the beginning of 2016. I watched all those documentaries, YouTube videos and read a ton of books on veganism and nutrition in general. I was mind-blown and shocked about what was really going on in our food industry. Suddenly I felt really passionate about my new values and morals.
Seeing the people I love and care about eat animal products and not giving a shit about the lives of animals started to bother me a lot. I felt the urge to say something so I tried to educate my family, friends and boyfriend. I wanted them to realise that what they are doing to our planet was wrong. I remember I was even considering to leave my boyfriend if he wouldn’t go vegan, because I was so cought up in this whole “you have to be vegan“-mindset.
To some extend the people I watched on YouTube back then got into my head and made me want to be One Of Those Vegans™. I wanted to make a big difference. I wanted to inspire people.
So I even considered joinging my local PETA team and I wanted to make a website dedicated to veganism. In the end I didn’t join the team and my vegsite (haha, get it??) also failed tragically.
After some time I started to calm down and stopped being so annoyingly pushy. The funny thing is; that’s when I started to inspire people to change their lifestyle. I didn’t try to lecture anyone about what to eat and wear and I stopped letting the fact that the people closest to me still eat animals get to me. I basically stopped caring if other people went vegan or not.
The only thing that matters to me now, is that I’m content with what I am doing.
Today I watched kris & yu’s video on why she stopped being vegan and it made me want to write this post. Honestly, I totally understand where she’s coming from and I don’t blame her for her decision.
And it made me think that maybe I won’t be vegan forever, either. Currently it feels like the right thing to do, but who knows how I’ll feel about this when I want to have a family and raise kids?
Frankly speaking I’m not even a perfect vegan right now. For example, if I really like a piece of clothing or shoes that are made of leather, I’d probably buy the item. As for make-up, I still own my old MAC lipsticks. If I were to move to a different country, I wouldn’t make it my first priority to be vegan, either. I’d rather focus on adjusting to my new environment.
What I’m trying to say is; being perfect is impossible and I agree, literally no one is 100% vegan. Like Kristin said; there’s always more you can do, but as long as you are trying your best – even if it’s just one vegan meal a week – that’s worth something.
I feel like most vegans are so judgmental (my old self included) and don’t acknowledge the small changes people make and that’s something that is fundamentally wrong with our community. We need to stop blaming people for not doing enough and for being “fake” vegans if they mess up. We need to start being more understanding and supportive because that’s what veganism should be about.
5 comments On The Annoying Vegan
Great post! I’m always a little envious of people who choose to actually take action instead of just saying that they’ll do it. I love considering the idea of turning vegan (and maybe this is just my own personal opinion) but I feel as a Korean-American (more on the Korean side) deciding to turn vegan is really hard because Korea is all about the meat lol.
I also feel like it’s a lifestyle you can only choose if you have the time and money for it. But maybe I haven’t done enough research? I would be interested in hearing about your own “veganism” tips for someone who wants to take a step in that direction but isn’t sure how he/she should start.
Thanks for sharing!
Veganism isn’t for me but I respect those that can do it. I respect people’s choices regardless of what they choose to do and everyone should do that same and it’s funny that others don’t. No one is better than anyone. Congrats on choosing what you believe to be right.
I really liked this post this remind of me for a while. It does make sense that some people or vegans don’t see if you try to do something small for veganism it still means something. No one is prefect you are right there. For a while after a really toxic relationship I consider going vegan since it helped me through my tough times. But for years growing up I didn’t like that fact that we had to eat animals and they had to be killed for us to eat and live. I always to be honest said a prayer before I ate meat a lot of the time. Still do till this day.. It’s hard and not sure If anyone could be 100% vegan but some people can and choose too. For me who knows what will happen to me. On and off I tried it myself but sometimes still go backs to my old ways. I still support people who are vegans and all that but for me doing it still not sure about it. I try hard to use cruelty free items as well. But sadly where I live there not a lot for sale or to buy in stores.. So I would have to go online to get them. And don’t really have extra money for them right now. So it sorta sucks right now.. Even if its small and even for one meal I try to eat vegan type stuff one time. True, I’m not a full vegan but I still support it and others who do it. Watched a lot of YouTube videos as well about it. Some things I never knew about which was shocking to me. So I knew but didn’t really want to listen at the time. But who knows if I’ll become full vegan or not. No one is prefect and no one is really normal. Because who is normal? Thanks for writing this and hope to see you around. Please take care~<3
i’m glad that you stopped being one of those annoying vegans who insist everyone should follow the “suppposedly righteous” lifestyle. i’m glad you opened your mind and let people do their own thing. i love animals, i totally do but my body doesn’t enjoy going 100% vegan so what i do is i eat “common food” – food that are easy to breed, like chicken and beef and fish. i do not, however, condone the consumption of, say… dogs. it upsets me when people eat dogs but it is important to keep in mind that cultures vary from people to people, countries to countries and we can’t insist everyone to go vegan, right. i personally respect people who can go vegan but i do not respect vegans who think they’re better human beings just because they’re 100% vegan. those kinds of vegans make my blood boil tbh lol. also, morals and ethics are blurred and just because someone can handle veganism doesn’t he or she is suddenly a saint. what i do is that i permit myself to consume only specific animals – like i said, the common meat like chicken, beef and fish but i will NEVER support, say…the shark fins trade. the shark fins trade and how people in china consume shark fins only for the sake of status make me sick. yea sure i’d love for people to stop hunting down “exotic” animals just to feel like they’re filthy rich but this isn’t an easy thing to do – which is why i respect you for not only turning vegan but also respect other people’s way of life.
Very interesting post. I’m glad that you were able to see your flaws and turn things around.
I wish I could go vegan or even just vegetarian but as someone with food sensory issues, it’s kind of impossible. I definitely wish I could do more though, especially when I see semis with crates full of chickens on the interstate.