Number 30

Well, it's been awhile and it's about time I entered a little something here. I have been wrestling with labels recently...diet labels specifically. As I have been researching the ideal way in which humans should be eating for maximum health and preservation of the planet I have encountered more labels than I can keep track of. So far I haven't found a definitive prescription for the average human. The jury goes out and in and back out again. The science is all over the place depending on which claim it's used to support so I am still left confused about the whole thing. As much as I have been striving to slot myself into the vegan category I feel that to be a vegan is so all or nothing that you are bound to feel horrible if you "slip up" now and then. So just now as I was eating a grapefruit at the kitchen sink and pondering the vegan philosophy I came up with my own definition of how I want to feed my body. I call it the 4C approach. I think this works best for me so that I can lighten up a bit and not feel so tied tightly to one specific diet philosophy. The 4C's stand for eating with this mindset:
Compassionately-
which entails eating with love for the animals and avoiding animal products as much as you can; we don't live in a perfect world and there are times when the odd crouton will have dairy in it -what are you gonna do stress out over it??
Conservatively-
which entails not eating more than you need (under eating is better ) and not wasting food
Conscientiously-
which entails eating with a sense of what is right and wrong for us and the planet
Cleanly-
which entails eating food as close to natural, fresh,  unprocessed and free of toxins as possible

So that's it. My new personal philosophy on how I am going to eat every meal, every day. Stay tuned because as new information gets absorbed by my brain I could very well fine tune my 4C approach and perhaps rename it too. 4C is a terrible name but it helps me remember the goals. In fact, the more I think about it I think one of the C's is redundant so perhaps I will drop it to the 3C diet. 3C rolls off the tongue better too. Well, that's it for now. Peace.

Number 29

Ok here's the deal: I cheated last night. I had set a personal record of  15 days without so much as a drop of cream in my coffee but  I had been craving meat so badly for the last few days that finally I gave in. Once again the craving satisfaction came in the form of chinese food. Now, that I have eaten the meat laden food I find that it is no big deal. I had made a huge deal of it by feeling deprived. The urge had gotten so out of hand by my feeling of deprivation and perhaps by some biological process in my body that was craving an animal version of protein. I don't know. What I do know is that in order to keep this from happening again I am going to have to better stock my pantry. I am going to have to plan meals better to stave off cravings. I had not been planning at all and the pantry had gotten rather bare so it is no wonder that I was starving for something rich and savory. The sad part is I had promised myself that I would go six months exactly from May 1st to Nov 1st  as a strict vegan and celebrate National Vegan Day on the first of November. Well, I kind of blew  a perfect six month record but I am still going to pursue the goal. Maybe perfection is too much to ask for right yet. I am not going to beat myself up over it, what I will do is carry on and remember the real reason for the mission: the animals.

Number 28

I found this poem today and this expresses how I feel now and how I am feeling more and more each day.
We Hear Your Cries

by Brenda Shoss

We hear your cries
Inside lightless stockades where metal bars define your earth
Where your frantic eyes gaze over an amputated beak
Unable to dust bath or flutter one wing
An automated hum, the only sound in your artificial prison
We hear your cries
In the narrow crates that envelop you from endless pregnancy to nameless death
From your first and last walk down death's corridor
toward a blood splattered man who guides your quivering body
into the crushing blast of his stun gun
From the impersonal thrust of his knife through still-warm flesh
to the final moment when you are dismantled limb by limb
We hear your cries
As you rock in the corner of your concrete world
Waiting for them to blind, burn and inject poison into your exhausted body
We ache to shield you from the scalpels and skull probes you have yet to endure We hear your cries
When they blast 5,000 volts of electrified pain into your flesh
Every time they batter you with metal pipes, bullhooks, flank straps and spurs
to obliterate your memories of a mother's love and infinite green
We hear your cries
As you search for one familiar face in the desolate days before
a gas chamber claims your anonymous life
When you seek the comfort of one set of arms
Your last tail wagged
Your last purr heard in a gray room with no windows

WE HEAR YOUR CRIES AND WE ARE COMING.