My Vegan Hesitation (?)

I have been in a little pickle with myself identifying as a vegan mainly because I am simply afraid of the "radical vegans" (?) who might criticize my personal vegan journey. I hate to say that their are "radical vegans", but I simple do not know how else to say it. I feel that their are a group of people who identify as vegan that are very forward about their judgements of others who may not be animal friendly/loving as them. Through my experience on the negatives seen throughout social media e.g. Kalel's video on veganism and her choice to now identify as plant based the negative backlash from that group people have made me afraid of them and judgements because I might not be vegan enough (?).

I have eaten things by accident that were not vegan and I feel extremely guilty of it. It only occurs when I am unaware that their are specific ingredients like honey, are in the product. A simple mistake and I feel extremely guilty for, but I do not want to receive immense hate on it.

I know I should not care for anyone's negative options, but being judge and having harsh criticizing from anyone is hard.

None the less, I also see their perspective as well. They love the planet and all living things at such a high value that they simple cannot be silent about what they feel is unjust. However, if a person chooses to eat meat or be just a vegetarian, it still their choice just as much as it is our individual choice to be vegan. I feel that this group of people are just a bit too much because by them being so forward, it most likely will create a ineffective impact on others. It might give them an insight to a more ethical lifestyle, but the harsh approach is not going to help. With my friends and family, who are not vegan nor vegetarian, I cannot force them to not eat what they personally choose to eat. Instead, I can create an open a friendly dialogue about positive vegan choices that they can choose to adopt or just take into consideration. I also feel that any choice they make that is more ethical is better than none. I applaud them for choosing the meatless option or practice "meatless Mondays". Their effort to accepting my vegan choices and supporting me is beyond amazing as well. I do identify as vegan even though I am not the perfect 100% vegan, but it is my journey and I do the best I can to live this more ethical lifestyle.

Hopefully that's good enough,

Linh

#justme