Hi guys. I have now been trying to be raw for four months. Its so hard but lovely at the same time. However, I feel alienated from the world. I feel that everyone is sleeping and myself and fellow raw foodies are awake.

Most of the social scene surrounds going "out" on the weekends for "fun" but they put alcohol and drugs into their bodies that are killing them! Thats fun?

Or woman are having children without knowing how to nurish them.
I don't know what to think anymore. Maybe I am being bias towards other nutrion theories. Does anyone else feel the same or have any insight?

Sometimes these thoughts and feelings leads me back on the SAD diet...but then i have a green juice and regain my strength!!

Why can't everyone eat raw food, see god in us all, love all, make love, give to others and just laugh and dance?!?!

Love you,
Jamie

i am trying to go raw, but it is difficult. many people don't understand benefits or raw and it is not so simple to go raw wigthout the know how and the right equipment.and some people prefer not to see what may be best.i feel isolated in my own way right now also.

-They say that everyone does the best they can - given their level of consciousness. You can't project your own sense of self onto them. One usually has no idea if the other person is joyful and on their path...just by observing their outward habits. Channel your energy into being a good and accepting example. If you do not accept others, you are not limiting them....but only yourself. LOL.

-Happy holidays with much abundance for all.

-David Z. Mason

Jamied,
I think I understand your frustration. There are a lot of things that people do which are less than ideal. What gets me is when people seem to be doing better in life in someway, while they are doing things that I see as wrong. I figure that they are doing other things right, that I am doing wrong. For instance I don't have an intense desire to connect with most people. Sometimes people that are into the party scene have remarkable social skills. So perhaps its that aspect that they are highlighting.

But you can always make up your own rules, connect with people of like mind. I have seen people post some photos of raw social events that looked like a total blast! Some of them actually looked like a much better time than regular parties!

I feel the same way, just don't have the desire to hang out with people that don't understand raw food, etc. I always seem to get into some kind of arguments about food with people that have no idea and get myself all worked up!

Like Mislu said, try and meet other raw foodists and go to events as much as you can.

Good luck!

I know from personal experience that there are people with whom you can enjoy your time without having to feel, at least, entirely alienated. Granted, most of my friends I have known for many years before my diet was any different than theirs - and maybe that's why we still get along great. Nevertheless our difference in diet does surface.

To be honest, I'm not even sure how many of them know exactly what my diet consists of, but most if not all know I'm vegan. It comes up in a few conversations. If anyone asks why I'm a vegan, I shrug my shoulders and say "so far, in terms of experiencing better health, being vegan has made me feel best".

I rarely put myself in social situations where I am forced to even explain myself, so that is also a benefit. I guess sometimes someone will say something about "protein" or this or that, but generally none of my friends are pushy so the conversations don't last long; I usually acknowledge that I am also seeking answers (and that I'm not an expert by any means), and I reiterate how this diet has made me feel thus far. That is usually enough.

I think the best thing any of should be doing is to do the best we can with ourselves, not just with out diet, but with our education and sense of character. Because if we become super happy, super friendly, super smart, super helpful people, it's going to be very hard for us NOT to have some sort of positive influence on other people!

Cheers

I don't care much if people smoke or drink, those things are plant-derived. People have the right to poison themselves if they want to.

But SAD eating really bothers me. One day I saw a guy who was putting the moves on me scarfing out on eggs and a fast-food hamburger, I got so disgusted and sickened by that.

I guess one could make the argument that smoking was really bad for the enrironment, too. There was one study showing that a modern vw diesel engine put out fewer emissions than cigarette smoke. Cigarettes don't come with emissions control devices.

It may be my imagination but I have noticed a lot more bananas, apples and the like on peoples desks since I started to eat large quantities of raw fruit at the office (at my desk).

Certainly I prick the conscience of those closest to me by unwaveringly not eating meat, they know how I feel about sentient animals being raised for food and they know I'm probably right.

The only one you can change is yourself, but your attitudes and habits do rub off somewhere even if you don't know it at the time.

Let not be so critical about how others want tor live their lives.
We were alive before we became raw

i feel that cooked is even more alienating
raw enables me to connect and really be present

people don't have to have the same diet as you do
but if you are raw
you will be able to connect to others on a deeper level

i agree
that people whose diets are different
still have bright aspects to them that are worthy of admiration and people can learn from each other

there are many people i know who possess skills that i don't or traits that i don't and i'm overjoyed with that difference
i marvel at their strengths and talents

being raw enables me to "tune in" to their passions as well

its a win win situation when you are raw

it may take a little practice to just order orange juice or salad when you are going out

but no one really seems to make a big deal out of it
i think most people know that it is quite a "normal" thing to do

i have had people make disparaging remarks about themselves when they see what i eat

but i don't take part in their self deprecation
i just let them say whatever they want and allow them to come to their own conclusions

i don't jump for the bait to talk about the benefits of raw foods
nor do i jump for the bait of giving people "advice' on how to change their diet especially if they never asked for it to begin with

most people are intelligent
they already know what's up
with or without having to read a book about it

its called

intuition

and most people have it

Please! I am a fruitarian! I get alienated with raw foodists lol

I feel ok, diet is just that, diet. If you have an issue with wanting to be different but then later whining about why you are different, that is another story.

I made up when I was a little girl, because some girls made fun of me, that I was not good enough and had to be different, special. I lived my life like that, then wondered why i was not like normal people, but hey, I made it up..

I wanted to be better, special..and then when everyone around me is not like me, I wonder, why am I different..

You are you and you cannot escape you.

good luck and you have me as a friend here on this board Jamie





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/21/2007 08:13AM by coconutcream.

Suvine thank you so much for that reflection on your self-creating specialness that causes feelings of separation. I am looking at that in myself so this was good insight to read, that we aren't victims but we create the way the world relates to us!!

Love,
Uma

if you really want to connect with others
look beyond their diet
and treat them as if they are incredibly valuable in spirit
then , magically
the alienation disappears

and u see that everyone is special in their own way... "different" in their own way and they have something to offer that u may have missed previously if you are just solely concerned about what their teeth are moving around

that's not lowering your standards
that's raising your standards

I have a friend who will come home from work and bake an entire cake and eat it. It makes him happy and he has a lot of fun eating it. He’s in good shape, but sorta eccentric I suppose

Anyway there is no ‘issue’ in between us, I’ll eat a bunch of mangos in front of him and get mango all over and he’ll eat his cake and we’ll just laugh.

Anyway, thought I’d share that

Sometimes it is different tho

I DO think many people are very oddly conscious/insecure about their eating and lifestyle, and WILL take offence whether you proselytize or not. Vege/vegans esp.

Personally I don’t feel too comfortable eating my fruit meals in front of most people and if I’m in a work environment I tend to go find someplace off the track to eat. I can’t figure out if this is something I should get over or not. In the past however I have found it in the very LEAST to be a bit of a nuisance/annoying conversation starter if not worse.

I’m moving into a new place with a bunch of guys I don’t know so well next month, I’ve already starting planning on how I’m going to go about that also which is kinda silly, I’ll have to grow a bit more backbone I think.

I have had people look at me funny for eating what I eat.. then they get interested..

i usually just give them a stupid look and just say "what ..ya never seen a <insert fruit or veggie> before lol

djatchi Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Let not be so critical about how others want tor
> live their lives.
> We were alive before we became raw


I agree. People have a tendency to follow the majority. They know what they know because it's what the majority has taught. Even a year ago you could catch me in line at the Burger King drive through ordering a double cheeseburger. I thought anyone who was a vegan was crazy. To me, meat and pasta were essentials. It's the way I grew up....not knowing any better.

Now the thought of that burger makes me sick! To know that I was putting that crap in my body! I had to learn that on my own, without anyone pressuring me.

Unless your parents were vegan, we all started out on the SAD diet. Think about how you came to start your raw journey and why. Not everyone has reached that stage yet or ever will.



KelBel

i agree with kel
bel

It's funny how easy it is to become righteous towards others about something we JUST let go of ourselves. Like, yeah we ate SAD most of our lives but now we are so "above" or "further evolved than" anyone still eating that way. or even WITHIN vegan or raw, like "oh, i don't eat X anymore. how COULD they be so naive." I am guilty of stuff like this myself. People are sensitive to being judged. It can be very alienating to the judg-ER.

Love,
Uma

I walk around the mall eating a cucumber, I just don't care.

i walk around the mall with cucumber slices all over my face

i just don;t care

Uma and la Veronique, too cute! Love you guys. Do you guys write in the journals section?

yeah, i have a raw diary in the raw diary section

I wonder if we judge others because of our fears of being judged. Reminds me of highschool. It is so hard to fight human nature.

I read something the Dalai Lama wrote once and I use it a lot. Sorry I am too lazy to go hunt for it, but basically it said if you feel superior to someone find something in them that is better than you. He gives the example of they might have beautiful hair and he has none. When I read it I thought that is too simple but it really has helped me. Be yourself, it is the only thing you can do better than anyone else.

Pakdfun, I love that! I'm going to use it. If you ever look up the exact quote, PM me with it, would you? Thanks!

Pam

pakd4fun

that was funny what u said about the dalai lama
but he does have a beautiful shiny globe of a head
and a brilliant soul

I finally looked up that quote from The Dalai Lama. It is from the book AN OPEN HEART. On page 18. Here it is.

"Sometimes, when I meet someone and feel that I am a little better than this person, I look for some positive quality of the person. He may have nice hair. I then think, "I am now bald, so from this point of view the person is much better than I am!" We can always find some quality in someone else where we are outshone. this mental habit helps in countering our pride or arrogance."

Sorry it took me so long. I forgot about it and it just popped in my head again. Onward through the brain fog .

yes, someone used to tell me I was way better than such and such but I always disagreed. I could always find something I thought is better in others.

My friends often quote someone who says something like [sorry i don't have specifics] "I've never met anyone so dumb I couldn't learn something from or so smart I couldn't teach something to."

No I don't write in the journal section. Maybe I should check it out.

By the way suvine thanks for all these various fruitarian book recommendations!

Love,
Uma