a mini rant about raw 'conversions'
I know raw is quite possibly the healthiest diet on the planet, but why does virtually everyone who is raw feel the need to so dramatically change their significant others and loved ones--i.e., force or somehow coerce them into going raw?
Sure, ideally, I'd love for my boyfriend and my family to eat healthier and include more raw foods in their diets, but that is a decision for them to make for themselves. But why harp on this all or nothing, or this subversive effort to change someone to such a degree that you presumably already love? Why hope that 'one day' this loved one's food choices will be 'just like mine'? My point is simply that going raw is a huge step in essentially every aspect of your life. It often impacts the way you view the world, yourself, how you interact in relationships (even whether those relationships will be upheld), how you view others, etc., etc., ad infinitum.
Ultimately, going raw changes you.
So why desire to have this earth-shattering effect fundamentally alter and intimately change your loved ones when you already love them for who they are and who they have become? I understand the desire to change and alter the world at large (e.g., war, hunger, pollution, etc.), but will never grasp the desire to 'remake' someone I love. I have no such desire and never hope to. I would never try to force anyone to become vegetarian, vegan, raw, or any other such thing just because it worked 'for me.'
I'm not at all saying that raw is a negative thing, but I believe that people need to find their own paths and not be forced (consciously or unconsciously) into following someone else's, regardless of what that path is. I love those around me as they are, and will let them create and follow their own paths--whatever they may be. Eating some greasy fries, albeit unhealthy, hardly makes someone a bad person.
Sure, ideally, I'd love for my boyfriend and my family to eat healthier and include more raw foods in their diets, but that is a decision for them to make for themselves. But why harp on this all or nothing, or this subversive effort to change someone to such a degree that you presumably already love? Why hope that 'one day' this loved one's food choices will be 'just like mine'? My point is simply that going raw is a huge step in essentially every aspect of your life. It often impacts the way you view the world, yourself, how you interact in relationships (even whether those relationships will be upheld), how you view others, etc., etc., ad infinitum.
Ultimately, going raw changes you.
So why desire to have this earth-shattering effect fundamentally alter and intimately change your loved ones when you already love them for who they are and who they have become? I understand the desire to change and alter the world at large (e.g., war, hunger, pollution, etc.), but will never grasp the desire to 'remake' someone I love. I have no such desire and never hope to. I would never try to force anyone to become vegetarian, vegan, raw, or any other such thing just because it worked 'for me.'
I'm not at all saying that raw is a negative thing, but I believe that people need to find their own paths and not be forced (consciously or unconsciously) into following someone else's, regardless of what that path is. I love those around me as they are, and will let them create and follow their own paths--whatever they may be. Eating some greasy fries, albeit unhealthy, hardly makes someone a bad person.