The joy of being vegan
15 January 2006

A few weeks back, I was re-reading the book Dreaming in Cuban by Christina Garcia, and I was struck by this passage:

"She doesn't like to admit to herself that, despite all her activities, she sometimes feels lonely. Not the loneliness of previous years, of a reluctant life by the sea, but a loneliness borne of the inability to share her joy."

I immediately thought to myself that this really explains why many vegans feel lonely or isolated. Amongst many of the complex emotions that the notion of veganism brings out (sadness, horror, anger, peace), joy is definitely one of them, but many people would never suspect it. To the omni or the vegetarian, veganism seems like a hardship; it is a life of deprivation rather than abundance and fulfillment, of bitterness and sorrow rather than joy and serenity.

But vegans know otherwise. If you speak with a vegan (although I'm sure there are the odd exceptions as there is with any generalization), they will most certainly tell you that going vegan was one of the best decisions of their lives. They are extremely happy not to participate in what they consider to be horrendous practices of cruelty to other beings, they feel peace at mealtimes and going about their daily lives, and they are happy to have awoken to a new abundance of foods and flavors. This isn't to say that we don't feel sad or angry when we think about the realities of factory farming or other cruel enterprises, or that we don't sometimes get pessimistic about change for the future. Nevertheless, most vegans are extremely happy to be vegan, and want to share this experience.

Many times, we try to convey this sense of joy to others, but they just don't understand. Even if they can see our happiness at our decision, they can't participate in it because they have no sense as to how we can feel this way. Thus we get questions like "but don't you miss meat/milk/cheese?" No, not in the least. "But I want to enjoy life and eat whatever I want." But I do eat whatever I want and I do enjoy life - I just don't want to eat meat or dairy or eggs. Nothing had to suffer for my meal and that makes me happy. It is refreshing to me to talk to other vegans since I do not feel so alone in my joy for these things. Now we just need other people to understand this side of veganism so we aren't dismissed as the weirdo who has gone too far. I think simple things like sharing good vegan food and responding positively to queries about our veganism (when possible) can help.

Btw, Dreaming in Cuban is an excellent novel and I highly recommend it if you haven't read it before.

  Posted by Jenna Torres    Permalink    Filed under: Opinion
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