Sunday, February 20, 2011

A Different Direction

I've been gone for awhile. A whole lotta life seems to happen between blog posts, I have noticed. One thing that you may be interested in is that I am re-thinking my blogging. Not as in quitting but as in re-directing.

I began my blog in January of 2010 with the original intent of sharing culinary techniques and recipes. I have enjoyed, learned from, and come to respect so many vegan bloggers over the past few years and I wanted to join their ranks with my own contributions.

At first it was fun just to share my recipes and photos. My friends and family were supportive but as the year has gone by I have discovered several things.

I knew from the beginning that I would not be a traditional vegan blogger. That was obvious because I am not a traditional, stereotypical vegan. I am an evangelical-leaning, conservative - both politically and theologically - vegan. Put bluntly, I am a weirdo. I don't really "fit" in anybody's camp.

What's more, my readers (at least the ones I know about) continue to be folks who are more conservative-leaning who want to argue me down, or people who are looking towards a healthier lifestyle and are curious about why we have made the choices we have, not just about veganism but about our health care and points of view on issues like being good stewards of Creation.

I have found myself defending the vegan way quite a bit lately. I have discovered a great deal of resistance to this "radical" lifestyle, especially among fellow Believers who simply cannot fathom how an evangelical-conservative-type could even consider something that has stereotypically belonged to the more liberal camps. After all, God created the animals to be eaten, right?

That last sentence makes me crazy. Even a cursory reading of the first 3 chapters of Genesis make it clear that that is not the case.

But I digress. My point in this post is to say that this will likely be my last one on Veganatic. One reason is what I wrote about above - my audience.

The other - and primary - reason is that I am finding I have more to say than seems to belong in a blog dedicated to vegan recipes. I have some thoughts to share on healthy, ethical living that encompass more than veganism. That doesn't mean I will no longer share recipes; I will. And I will continue to defend the vegan way; I have never been one to run away from an argument, as anyone who knows me will confirm!

I am finding, however, just as most people do along their life journey, God is doing more than one thing at the same time and I feel the need for a different venue to chronicle those things. I also have some thoughts on faith that also seem to demand a different venue.

So, thank you for reading Veganatic. It has been fun and it has been a blessing to me to write it. It will stay here with all my posts so if you liked one, you can still find it. Be on the lookout, though, for my new blog, No Other Way. It isn't up and running yet, but when it is, you will find it at nootherway.net. I will post a link here when the new one is up.