Since the first day I grew my teeth to start eating solid food, I had become accustomed to eating meat and dairy. My favorite meaty meal was my nana’s special Cuban dish, “Ropa Vieja” and the Big Mac at McDonald's was my go-to snack for a quick meal and a satiated appetite. This was my lifestyle and eating pattern up until two years ago when I had an internal awakening at a supermarket next to my work. This was the tiny spark to light a small candle before the whole house of my old self was to be set on fire and burned other unawakened ground from which it stood.

There it was, roasting on a wire, a full chicken with its body intact but the one thing that was missing was its head. And for my whole life, I had seen animal products as food and cosmetics, but for some reason, this second look showed me the corpse of a living creature compared to a delicacy that could’ve been cooked with bbq sauce and seasoned with garlic. From that point on I knew that a change was coming and that my perceptions of the world were soon to follow and change.

Now, with all due respect, transitioning to veganism has changed my life for the better not only in terms of physical health but in terms of my soul and the way I have actually begun connecting to Mother Earth-- feeling a peace within that I forgot existed. Animals became part of my spirit, as much as I like to believe that the warm and fuzzies are mutual.

Unfortunately, with the light comes the darkness, and thus, rude awakening that will sweetly haunt me and my fellow vegans for the rest of time before a hopeful change in society could occur. What used to look like delicious buffalo chicken wings turned into seeing bones and feeling the same nausea you would encounter even when imagining yourself seeing human bones. Every fish I look at, all of the meats in the supermarket, and every meat-based restaurant has come to make me sad, angry, and overall disgusted with society as a whole. The fact that people are rightfully enraged about Trump’s new legalization of elephant trophies, but still go home to eat their chicken and pork dinners makes me beyond frustrated at the hands of a conditioned mindset of traditional eating and no open eyes to see the truth. Hypocrisy is the only association I can make with society when we have laws against cat and dog abuse while it is a White House tradition to spare two turkeys' lives from slaughter while their brothers and sisters are murdered in the masses.

When becoming a vegan, my awakening had become one of a butterfly discovering its wings and realizing how much more beautiful it is to break free from the cocoon and fly from outside its boundaries. However, with freedom comes a price. I will never be able to look at food the same because now all I see is murder. Getting angry and sad deep inside has become a burden on my heart, and that feeling happens every single time I go somewhere that specializes in animal cruelty. And this may sound extreme, but I’m dreading the first date where I might have to grow the balls and tell him to rinse his mouth before kissing me ... nothing is the same anymore, and this awakening is light and love, but a whole lot of rude, and even though it’s painful, the kindness we spread for all creatures is worth the hardship of an awakened perception of life and social conditions.