I haven't posted my food pics in a couple of days! I've taken them but I just haven't gotten around to putting them up... whoops!

Instead of actually being too productive (which I'm allergic to apparently) I'm going to leave the photos for tomorrow. There's something much more important on my mind.

I'm thinking about the word "vegan". Now, I'm not the biggest fan of labels; I find that they put so many restrictions on your life that are impossible to live up to. I can't think of any other way to talk about the way I live my life and the way I eat other than saying "I'm vegan." But am I? Is a month dairy/egg free long enough to call yourself a vegan? Are there time restraints? And if someone who calls themselves a vegan decides to eat a piece of non-vegan cake does that mean they have to start all over? Do they lose the right to call themselves vegan?

What confuses me are the politics. Why is it that we have to make everything a competition? Whether it's against ourselves or against each other it seems that we, for the most part, want to be the better, stronger person at the end. That's evolutionary for sure, y'know... the whole "survival of the fittest" thing...

What if I decided to proudly proclaim that "I'm vegan!"? But a month down the road my knees buckle and I grab a piece of pizza. Does that make me a hypocrite or just human?

I think what I'm trying to get at, trying to make myself remember, is that perfection isn't a possibility. It doesn't exist. We all make decisions that could be considered mistakes, that's just life. But one bite of cake, or pizza, or pie shouldn't completely erase the days, months, weeks, or years of being "vegan". You eat it. You deal with it. You move on. That doesn't mean that you're out of a club or that you are never allowed to call yourself "vegan". It means that you are a human being with vices and weaknesses. I've noticed a certain veil that arises whenever I mention that I'm vegan, or trying to be, to anyone that isn't. Because we don't eat the same things doesn't mean I'm going to slap you over the head or punch you in the face. It means we disagree. It opens up a space for conversation, for education. But it is absolutely understandable to me why someone would occasionally want to throw their hands up and say "I give up!"

We can only do so much. We can all only play perfect for so long.