Going vegan

veg·an
1) a vegetarian who omits all animal products from the diet.
2) A vegetarian who eats plant products only, especially one who uses no products derived from animals, as fur or leather.
Definitions courtesy of dictionary.com

Look at all the delicious vegan food. Yes, every single thing pictured is vegan - even the cupcakes. And obviously it looks fantastic, because Peachfuzz is sitting here on my lap eating strawberries as I type. When she saw the picture she said "yummy, yummy", which is her big tick of approval!

I've been thinking of transitioning from vegetarian to vegan for quite some time. I have a small collection of fantastic vegan cookbooks which we eat from most nights of the week. I still enjoy cheese (soy cheese - not so much) and ice-cream, but I'd really like to eliminate all dairy, eggs and honey from my diet. And eventually, though it will be a slower process, eliminate leather, wool, silk, fur (don't think I own any fur anyway) from my home/wardrobe etc.

There are so many reasons I think this is the right step, and only a few that have been holding me back so far. Going vegetarian started primarily as a health thing. We just felt better when we didn't eat meat. Then as I looked for delicious vegetarian recipes, I started doing some research into the lifestyle. My reasons now are not just health reasons, but ethical and environmental too. One of the biggest things you can do to reduce your ecological footprint is eat less animal products.

So, the next logical step is to go vegan. There is animal cruelty and loss of life involved in producing dairy products and eggs. I just don't feel right supporting the factory farming industry. I know some people will say "just eat organic or free-range, it's more humane", but I really think my body will thrive without any animal products at all. Everyone I've ever spoken to who is or has been vegan (particularly raw vegans), have said nothing but wonderful things about the health benefits. I really don't believe we were designed to consume the milk of another species. When you actually think about it, there's something a little gross about that.

These are just the thoughts on my mind at the moment. I expect this will be a gradual transition. There are still eggs and cheese in the fridge, honey in the pantry and ice-cream in the freezer. Papa Bear is not ready to give up these foods yet. I hope that one day he will follow me along this path. There was a point in time where I didn't think he would ever give up steak, and now the mere thought of eating a steak makes him sick. So perhaps eventually he will come to the same conclusions as me. But for the time being, I will continue to cook vegan food, and support him in his occasional enjoyment of animal products.

I know this will not be a popular decision. Some people may not want us to eat with them any more. Cooking vegan food is not difficult, but it's a whole different thing when you're not used to cooking or eating that way. This may completely kill my social life, but if so, that's okay. I really feel like this is what I should be doing. So I'm going to do it.

A new challenge

Papa Bear and I really desire to live a more simple life. Less commitments, less worries, less consumerism, less "stuff". We'd like to be able to focus on the important things in life - God, our marriage, our children, extended family, church, friends. To be able to do this, we feel like we need to be less bogged down by some of the things in our life. We don't want to get to the stage where we're two ships passing in the night - Papa Bear always working to provide the money we need to maintain a certain lifestyle, me running around to three different activities with the kids after school every day. So we're going to do something about it before it gets to that stage.

I know it's a little late for New Year's Resolutions, though it is still January. And as our preacher said on Sunday, "January is the time to change. Well, anytime is the time to change." So even though it's late, I'm resolving to reduce our "stuff". I want to be a lot more conscious of what comes into our home. Does it have a purpose? Does it fit with our style? Does it fit with our goals and where we want to be at this stage of our lives? I am also aiming to reduce the things we already have. To some, this may seem like a crazy exercise. After all, more and more today society tells us we need "more, bigger and better" than the next guy. But we want to downsize. We want to simplify. So starting today, my goal is to remove three things from our house that we no longer need or love. And I will keep removing three things every day until we get down to what we really use and love. I imagine as we learn to let go of things, our definition of what we really "need" will change. I hope that we will be able to live very simply.

You have to realise that this is not an easy goal for me. As much as I desire to have less "stuff" cluttering up the spaces (and therefore our lives) around me, I am a very sentimental person. You know, one of those people who kept every letter or note written in high school. Every article of clothing that has a special story. Every soft toy I've ever owned. This is not going to be an easy journey for me, but I feel it's an important one. And as I learn to love the memories, but let go of the things, I imagine I will learn a lot about myself too. I'm excited to see where this will take us.

Just what I needed

From this post at whipup:

Whenever I feel unsure, I go back to one of my favorite books and the quote at the beginning. Here’s the introduction that never fails to inspire me from Off the Map:

This is what it means to be an adventurer in our day: to give up creature comforts of the mind, to realize possibilities of imagination. Because everything around us says no you cannot do this, you cannot live without that, nothing is useful unless it’s in service to money, to gain, to stability.

The adventurer gives in to tides of chaos, trusts the world to support her- and in doing so turns her back on the fear and obedience she has been taught. she rejects the indoctrination of impossibility.

My adventure is a struggle for freedom.

Australia Day 2007

Since we forgot to take our camera to our own Australia Day celebrations, I decided to search Flickr for photos of what Australia Day is all about... good friends, good food, and the good ol' Aussie flag! Click the image for photo credits.

Modern Day Moses

A modern day Moses, waking the streets
With shouts of glory and blistered feet
He's met the maker, he's met the reason he's alive
And he's on fire inside

A modern day mother, living in the slums
Feeding the hungry, making sure the race gets run
Always asking if we fought with steady feet
She fights on her knees

Let my people go

A modern day Martin, in a world of civil words exchanged
But dreaming bigger, thinks maybe he can make the change
He's heard the stories, he wants some of his own
And he's not alone

Let my people go

The time is now the moment's here, walk in faith or stand in fear
Change the course of History, did you ever think?
No one ever thought -who would have believed?

A modern day me, what have I become what can I be?
If there is greatness out there to be achieved
I want to be more than someone who just passes through this life
I want to stand up for what is right

- Modern Day Moses, by Kendall Payne

I think I've figured out why this blogging thing has never worked for me before. I read a crazy amount of blogs, some of which I'll be adding to a list in the side bar over the next few days. I read craft blogs and food blogs, parenting blogs and simple living blogs, green blogs and money blogs... and the list goes on. I enjoy reading each and every one of these for different reasons, but they all seem to be addressing something specific. And therein lies my problem.

I don't want to address something specific, I want this to be a bit of everything. I couldn't do a craft blog, because I just don't create as often as I would like to. As much as I love to cook, I don't often make fantastically inspiring food, and most of the time I'm too hungry to stop and take photos first, so a food blog is out. I'm no parenting expert, nor do I kid myself into thinking anyone could learn anything from me as far as simple living goes. And I strive to "live green" and be frugal, but I couldn't do one of those sort of blogs either. So this will be a bit of everything. Sometimes a crafty project, sometimes a recipe, sometimes maybe a brilliant parenting tip I discover.

Mostly I want to keep track of my journey to becoming the wife, mother, friend, sister, daughter, I desire to be. I have so many "big ideas" - things I want to do with my life, many of those things I've been inspired to do by someone else's thoughts I've heard, or books I've read. I want to stop talking and dreaming about these things, and start living them. I want to squeeze every bit of fun and adventure and goodness out of life that I can. And I want to keep track of that journey here. I don't really know what's in store. But I know I'll have a lot of fun on the way. I hope you'll join me.

I want to be more than someone who just passes through this life.