Deep thoughts.

Something has been bothering me a lot lately. Enough for me to lose sleep over it.

I have so many friends and family that are accepting and eager to share veganism with me. For example, I have a friend who was celebrating a birthday who sought out a Tofurkey pizza, without my knowing, so I could have pizza at his party. I have friends in other cities that jump at the chance to try new places with me. I have a sister in law who made all the side dishes at last year's Thanksgiving vegan so I wasn't stuck with what I brought. I am so, so thankful for every single one of these people and try to tell them as often as I can.

Sometimes, though, I get down about the few that just don't get why it's so important to me. I've gotten into scuffles over it, and I hate it. I became vegan for health reasons, not because I wanted to spread the horrors of eating meat, dairy and eggs. I don't push gross videos or photos. I'm incredibly passive when people tell me "Oh, I couldn't give up cheese" because I didn't think I could, either. And I'm not expecting anybody to give it up just because I did.

I just wish that I could tell them why it's so important and have them understand without getting screamed at, or given the cold shoulder, or losing my sister completely. I'm tired of hearing "we don't eat like you do, so stop trying to force us" when that's not what I'm trying to do. I'm only looking out for myself, but they see it as an attack.

I know this is something that a lot of people face, whether it has to do with veganism, sexuality, personal life choices or whatever. It's kind of silly, though, that the ones that we should feel closest to are the ones that don't want to understand at all.