The decision to ‘Go Vegan’ is a very personal one.

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We start the process of fundamental change, not only in our eating habits but in shopping, in thinking and in what we speak about to others.  When one considers what vegan principle is, one realises that it is watertight.   Over the past forty years of being vegan, I’ve never heard any cogent argument against it.  With the major issues of the day, there are usually solid arguments on both sides, but practising harmlessness via diet and clothing, etc., has no counter argument that makes any sense.

So, maybe we have found a good idea (that nevertheless scares people away for fear of having to give up so many material products they’ve known throughout their lives).  This good idea - being vegan and non-violent, animal friendly, green and potentially world transforming - is indisputable.  But within an almost totally omnivorous world there is a heavy collective consciousness weighing against us.  It’s psychological.  And in many ways it’s physical too, since the very things we all (think we) need, to live enjoyable lives in the form of food and clothing, are simply not available in plant-based form.  Vegans face empty shelves.  It isn’t a problem concerning survival, it’s more a question of doing without items that we’ve grown to like or have found useful, enjoyable and easy to share with friends and family.  We restrict ourselves to a narrowed choice and refuse the huge variety of goods on offer.  So, as vegans, our first question is always the same - how am I going to keep it up?

The ideal is very attractive, the practice though, at first, is less so.  We might know ourselves very well – once we start something we must continue with it, because we'd hate our self if we gave up.   But the dilemma is all to do with resolve.  Certainly, we want to leave violence behind, we want to become a peaceful person, and it will help greatly by eating cruelty-free food, wearing non-animal clothing and shoes.  But how do we deal with our inner feelings of violence, which are woven into us, woven into the social fabric, and drop that entirely?

Perhaps the answer to that first big question is to not run before we can walk.  We only need to start somewhere, and first up, it’s a matter of being ‘celibate’ with regard to animal abuse.  So, we take on a vegan diet, we chuck out all our leathers, change our buying habits, and so on.  The idea continues to inspire, clashing with some residual feelings of violence towards the animal-attackers.  But more prominently are our own loss-feelings.  We want to feel comfortable about our change of direction but realise we can't go all the way immediately.  We need to be able to handle the flak.  We still want everyone to be supportive. We don't want social isolation.  We don't want veganism to feel like a burden.

But gradually the benefits show.  The change of diet isn’t such a big  problem after all, and with a few new products in the cupboard and a few new recipes, we aren't missing the animal-stuff as much as we though we would.  We might still worry that our resolve will fade before the new lifestyle kicks in.  (We probably already know a few people who’ve gone half way and never progressed beyond that. Like vegetarians - great start: sad stop!)

         

We have decided not to cave in, if possible, so we go at it full bore.  We use sheer will-power, anything to get over to the ‘other side’.   Head on, we face our non-acceptance by people who think we’ve gone weird.  And then we face our favourite hobby of making value judgments of others, and have to get over the violent feelings we might have for those who don't agree with us.  We even have to face up to the truth that perhaps one of our main reasons for wanting to go vegan in the first place was that we might feel superior and therefore become un-judgeable.

         

As a vegan, we start to experience changes on various levels.  Tension builds between passion and impatience, where there are addictions to deal with.  To give us that extra lift we return to the people about us.  We try to sell 'veganism'.  We want to say, “It’s worth it.  Go Vegan.  It’s not that hard at all”.  But in truth, it’s hard, for some of us anyway.