I’m done labeling myself – labels constrain my actions and lead to judgment. From now on I’m making decisions I believe are good and ones I want to make at that moment – no explanation necessary.
For the past year and a half, my attempt at veganism has gone from strictly vegan to mainly vegan with a cheat meal once a month to cheating here and there but more often. For a while, I’ve been telling people I’m 95% vegan i.e. I eat mostly vegan meals but I eat animal products sometimes.
What I’ve found is that people tend to disregard or fail to acknowledge the “95%” part of my statement and just hear the “vegan” part. So any time I break veganism, someone calls me out with a “That’s not vegan!” – no shit Sherlock.
This reminds me of the blog I wrote called You’re Not A Noun where I talked about using verbs to describe yourself instead of nouns. When you tell people you’re a writer, a painter, a blogger, or in this case a vegan, they question you any time you contradict that. That’s a little annoying if you ask me – or more so just a waste of time that I no longer want to deal with.
It shouldn’t be necessary to explain yourself every time you make a decision. Make the choice you want to make at that moment and don’t feel bad about it or feel the need to explain.
So instead of saying I’m 95% vegan, I’m just gonna say I eat fewer animal products than I used to. If you ask me if I want a burger, sometimes I’ll say yes and that’s ok. Sometimes I’ll say no and that’s also ok. It’s my choice to make and nothing you have to be concerned with.
Forget about labels. Stop trying to explain every decision you make and worrying about judgment from others when you break a habit. Live your life, make the choices you feel are right for you.
September 9, 2022
