In My Mind’s Zen Garden

So, I was performing last night at The Bistro and one of the owners was teasing me about being a vegan. Plus, add to that the usual critiquing about how we all “need” meat, and that meat contains a bunch of protein that we so desperately need.

I think the topic of conversation came up because Tiffany, the bartender, mentioned the fact that Mary (one of the customers) brought in some homemade salsa with chips, and that it was okay for vegans to eat.

Then the discussions turned to “organic” wine…

Anyway, my Aquarian nature supposedly loves “causes”… and being a vegan and being kind to animals is a worthy cause, I think.

But the reality is, other than the bartender at The Bistro (Tiffany), I don’t know any other vegans aside from myself!

I am feeling alone with my cause… my wife is NOT a vegan but I wish she was, and that my family were all vegan. But, like they say… you can’t really change anyone. Only yourself. So…

The other day my wife was scolding me for eating some junk… some corn chips! So, she says that I shouldn’t do that… that I’m her role model… an ideal to follow.

Okay, that’s fine. She won’t become vegan to help support my cause, but she thinks I’m doing a good thing, I guess.

One role model I look up to in the vegan sense is actress Natalie Portman, who’s been vegan since age 8!

Natalie Portman finished up her degree at Harvard a few years ago, and is now working on her masters degree in Israel. Now keep in mind that at the same time she was doing all this studying at the university level (which is remarkable feat in and of itself, and we’re talking Harvard here), she’d been making all these movies, making all these public appearances, doing photo shoots, etc…

Anyway, where does one person find the time?

But the point is… she did ALL these things on a meatless diet… and a strict one at that, because being vegan means eliminating fish, meat, poultry, eggs and dairy products from one’s diet… basically… any food that is from animals!

And supposedly, Einstein was a vegetarian but there’s no hard proof that he was a vegan.

I guess I have to remain firm in my beliefs and my way of life. I just have to continue doing my own thing. But it sure would be nice to be surrounded by more vegan people. Just so it doesn’t feel like I am out-numbered.

I stand by my cause and my decided lifestyle, even though being out-numbered is a lonely feeling… and I’ll continue to be made fun of because of my odd-ball way of eating.