Day 2,951 —I Dreamed that I ate Meat— with a PICTURE of a PAVALION on a HILL #736

 I was thinking about a recent dream I had during my run. It might seem surprising to meat eaters that I had a dream about eating meat for the first time last week. I know many meat eaters believe that eating meat is an innate / primal desire in all humans. 

In the dream, I was eating a meal with strangers. I remember suddenly becoming aware that the meal contained some plain white chicken that I did not notice before. When I realized what was in it, I felt guilt and shame, and then I woke up. 

I am sure many people would assume that when you stop eating meat that your body and mind will continue to crave meat but that has not been my experience. Now, I have become even sensitive to the sight of dead animals. I am disgusted with children’s books that depict kids eating meat. 

There is so much in our culture normalizing the consumption of dead animals, but what really makes me angry is when I consider that I never noticed before. 

As I was walking to the park yesterday, I overheard a mother telling her daughter, “She is a vegetarian, which means that they don’t eat meat.” 

I knew this conversation most likely came from her daughter offering a meat product to her friend and wondering why her friend did not want it, or was not allowed to eat it. The whole scene made me realize what was really upsetting me: it should be normal to not eat dead animals. I am not the weird one for expecting that people maybe do not offer meat and dairy products to children out of habit. I don’t think it is a coincidence that the medical industry has mandated meat products on infants and toddlers. And children’s entertainment from toys to shows heavily features, sugar, meat and dairy products. 

If were to interpret my dream, it seems clear that I am feeling anxiety about missing something obvious in my life. It could be something I fear I have already missed, or something that I am worried about missing in the future.

What my dream is not about is an innate secret desire to eat meat.