Mom, I didn't mean to be this way.

As I was standing in the essential oils aisle at Whole foods, searching for patchouli oil, the thought entered my mind, "I didn't mean to be this way, it just... happened". To further accentuate my feeling, I started explaining to my mother the benefits of living a vegetarian lifestyle. I thought to myself, "what happened to me"? Here's what happened, life...

I am taking a stab at a pescetarian lifestyle, which let me disclaim: is not a vegetarian style (apparently veggies get all hot and bothered if a pescetarian parades around like a vegetarian. I know right, you think veggies hate animal cruelty; read some blogs about their thoughts on pescetarian's.) But, for me, it's a start. Basically, one of the major differences between a vegetarian and a pescetarian, is that pescetarians eat fish. I'm on week 2 and it hasn't been that difficult. I'm sort of in the detox phase, where my body is adjusting to the change. But overall, I feel great. I don't feel sluggish after my meals and my energy levels have seemed to increase (for the most part).

So, what got me to this point? The answer is simple: progression. I never thought I would become a 26 year old, pescetarian, social worker who wants to legalize gay marriage and implement universal healthcare; but there it is.

After I noticed that Whole Food's was out of patchouli oil, I looked at my mom and said, "mom, I didn't meant to be this way, I just kinda turned into this person, and if you look back in 1o years and I only bike and recycle everything that crosses my path.. I'm sorry". Do you think my mom cared? Not at all... Life's funny that way. People either grow with you or apart from you. I'm thankful that most of the people in my life will grow with me. Not to long ago, I told my best friend, Jenny, I was going on a date. I was in one of those 'I can't put a full sentence together' moods, so in response to her question, "where did you meet", she didn't understand my reply. But it didn't matter! She said, "yeah, I didn't get that.. but I support it".

It's good to have those people who oppose their friends, of course, but it should all be out of support. One could describe me in a lot of ways: male, loving, friend, brother, son, funny, white, gay, runner, tall, driven, etc. etc. But most importantly: I'm me, and I wouldn't be me if it wasn't for the people who loved me. So I'm a pescentarian, because I want to be, not because I'm a poser, and that follows suit with every aspect of my life. If I really think about it, it's very empowering. I allow my likes and dislikes to communicate with each other, while I take the backseat. Social workers have a technique called the strength's prospective, which is when, the social worker, guides the client into self discovery, which 1) allows the client to feel empowered about aiding in their personal recovery, 2) teaches the client coping skills for the next time a problem arises, and most importantly, 3) takes the work off of the social worker.

I basically, without knowing it, conducted the strength's prospective on myself. Score!

Cheers, to being who you are and being smart about getting there.

Garrett Paul