Vegetarians – Look Away Now

Like most of my friends I was born into a culture of meat eaters and the only vegetarians I knew in the 80s was Linda McCartney.

We were from an era of Findus crispy pancakes (who knew about the horse scandal back then?), I remember enjoying summer BBQ’s with enough meat to feed the entire population of the Isle of Wight and my mum stirring up a massive pot of spag bowl with gay abandon, then mad cow disease hit and I think everyone re-evaluated their red meat eating habits (well I did – but I still ate it however have a friend that hasn’t touched it since that happened).

I have also had a love of animals which I’m sure most people do and I have thought long and hard about giving up meat for good.  I tried it when I was 21 and it lasted one month exactly until I went for a Chinese and realised I couldn’t eat Duck.  I completely blocked out the fact that I love Ducks (in living form) and my hunger and let’s face it, the eating habits of a life time won the day.

My husband and I have always been big foodies and I am not fussy with anything.  In fact, people who are fussy with food really frustrate me, it’s the only thing I have no patience for as I am from a generation of “eat it or go hungry”. That has served me well.  My husband is a keen meat smoker, we have a smoker in the garden and an outdoor pizza oven.  Food has always been the centre of our social lives really and because I am so free and easy with it, it’s just something I don’t have to think too much about.

When I started my Reiki journey 2 years ago I realised that one of the 5 Reiki principals is to be kind to all living things.  How could I even consider that when I eat animals?  How is that being kind?  I then started to meet vegetarians and vegans and admired them for sticking to what they believed in and also some of them grew up in veggie families, so it was just a way of life.

Working with energies and then getting my own dog has made me realise that animals do have souls and we are connected to them, as we are every human being.

So this year I started to adapt the home menu, choosing mostly veggie dishes on our Hello Fresh scheme, buying Quorn to go in family one pot dishes, even my husband was on board as he went on a health kick this year.

But still not progressing to full veggie.  I think its mostly because of the backlash of feeling like I’m an inconvenience and also, the biggest factor is because I get tired after work and just want to cook without fuss if I’m doing one plate of Quorn sausages and one plate of piggie ones.  Plus I really do like meat.

So I asked my guide Blue, what to do?  Why have I no will power with this?  Every other veggie seems to be able to do this don’t they?  Why am I so meat addicted?

As always, I asked for a sign from Blue and as always, he delivered, in a way of a dream.

On waking I relayed the whole thing to my little girl (she was probably traumatised but I had to tell someone).  In the dream, I was back in my family home.  My dad had this huge open fire / oven in the kitchen, and like an Italian Pizza Chef he had on this big apron and a flat spatula in hand.  In the living room were all these people, lots of my friends, including my Reiki Master Melanie who has been vegetarian most of her life.  I do feel that it’s significant that she was in this dream.

Then dad announced he was cooking up a storm for us and pulled out the box of these little piglets, all alive and incredibly cute.  They looked at me the way my little dog Seb looks at me, they connected with me and I smiled and was just about to pick one up when he threw the piglet in the fire and I watched it burn.  One after the other, the little piglets burned alive and pleaded with me with their eyes to save them.  I screamed “they are still alive!” and my dad said “don’t be silly, they can’t feel a thing!”.  Then I woke up.

So, yesterday I decided that I should try this – it’s time to take it seriously.  But how do I tell my husband?  Honestly this is a massive deal to a big meat eater.

But then I got what I like to call “the sealing of the sign” – Blue has a habit of doing this.  He gives you the sign then he confirms it later on, and oh boy he did.

Last night, my husband had drinks and food in London after work.  Just as I was getting into bed for an early night (told you I get tired) he sent me a text and photo with the word “dinner” on it.  Please bear in mind he has no idea whatsoever that today I decided to become a vegetarian there has also been no talk of it leading up to my decision.  This photo is horrific but I have to share it:

I was in shock.  I mean, Craig is a meat eater yes but seriously a pigs head?  This is ambitious even for him.  I know he loves the odd bag of pork scratchings….but this had to be fake.  And the pig connection to my dream?  It was crazy, I needed proof so requested he proved that was his dinner.  Then he sent me a photo of him eating it.

OMG.  I was mortified.  So that’s when I sent him the text thanking him and also announcing that I am in fact a vegetarian now and his choice of food has shocked me to the core.  He came back and said it didn’t taste as nice as it looked (ignoring my announcement) and I went back and said “but it didn’t look nice” – giving me the deep knowing that it looks awful and helping me on my journey, thank you in advance Blue.

So where do we go from here?  I will continue at this with my very best efforts and by writing this blog I have told the world, no going back now!

As for my lovely husband, Vegetarians and Vegans please don’t be too hard on him.  I feel peer pressure may have helped him in his dinner choice last night and I’m still waiting for when he will bring up my new lifestyle choice….will keep you posted on that one.

Until next time,

Tanya