Veganism is living with a purpose of existing in as much peace love and harmony as you can

Delvene wants everyone to win at life. She is never in competition with anyone because she believes we all can live the lives we want and believe we truly deserve. That is what makes her happy seeing others living their best lives fills her with joy. Because they can be good to themselves and happy show compassion toward others.

Meatless Movement recently had the opportunity to chat with her. She told Meatless Movement that we create our own happiness and have always been the creators of that no one else. Uplifting others and being proud of their achievements because you want them to do well at life is what it means to love, support, and genuinely care about others and their lives.

Please tell us more about yourself

My name is Delvene Worrall, I live in the Southern Highlands NSW, Australia.

Love is the true Power
Delvene

I am a qualified photographer and artist I love animals and have many hobbies, I’m a foodie and I enjoy cooking and combining my love of vegan food with creating and cooking new and tasty healthy vegan dishes as well as naughty ones. I love to show fellow vegans as well as non-vegans that vegan cooking is fun and making healthy and tasty food is easy. I like to show that everyone can enjoy being vegan and cooking plant based is so not only fun but easy to do.

I love reading, poetry, writing and being in nature, going on hikes and especially the beach. It’s where I feel most home. I am also a tarot and oracle reader, crystal healer and love to collect and fill my home with crystals and wear them.

I enjoy my morning yoga routines, meditating, travelling and exploring. I love to dance and stay fit and healthy amongst many other hobbies and talents.

I have two beautiful cats, Ziggy and Huddy, who mean the world to me. I have a wonderful husband and am blessed to be the Aunty of many nieces and nephews. I especially adore all my nieces and love spending time with my family and my friends who mean the most to me.

I love trying everything and anything and have a lot of passions and a thirst for enjoying the fun things in life and focus on living a peaceful relaxed happy life.

I always struggled eating animals growing up and became a vegetarian as a teenager. It became an ethical issue for me I couldn’t ignore or continue being responsible for any harm toward animals. I made the transition to completely go vegan in my early 20’s. It wasn’t a hard decision for me based on the fact it has always bothered my soul since I was a child, but when I was old enough to start making my own choices and when I was a teenager I started making changes where my food came from and started on the path to becoming completely vegan in my 20’s.

I have been vegan for more than 15 years and being vegan for me was not only the right choice for me on a soul and spiritual level, but aligned with me living as kindly and peacefully as I can. It also helped me greatly when I was diagnosed at 23 with a severe and chronic disease (Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis) which altered and changed my life in no small way.

Being Vegan also helped me by reducing how badly I struggled and helped me to manage my chronic disease better. I initially went vegan for ethical reasons, but found that by doing so, it also helped me with my lifelong battle with my health and auto immune issues by living a cleaner, healthier life. Being an avid protector of the environment and animals, for me veganism has had a plethora of many all-encompassing reasons to go vegan; For Animals, For Health, The environment, economically its cheaper, Human rights of others and it’s a highly spiritual choice for me as well.
To me it’s a complete makeover of one’s soul when you chose to live a life of kindness and peace for all beings and the planet.

A most interesting part of my story going vegan, was how my health and blood results improved and the inflammation markers (due to the Crohn’s Disease) improved greatly and how much going vegan as well as chemical free, halved a lot of my high inflammation results and complications I had due to very active disease. The Doctors at the time were baffled as to why my blood tests had been the best they had seen in years and couldn’t understand at the time the drastic change in my blood work and disease severity.

I explained to them I was a vegan and went chemical free and attribute the big improvements in my condition to the changes I had made. Back then, being 15 years ago, many medical professionals as well as people not only didn’t know what vegans were but didn’t have the wealth of information and empirical data that we now have today pertaining to the benefits of living a vegan lifestyle can do for a person especially those who battle health issues.

When I first became a vegan, it was seldom catered for, so the challenges of getting food and products back then were many, as people in general only had a vague idea of vegetarianism let alone veganism. With such limited options and only a fraction of the plant-based products we have now, being a home cook was where it was at and I created a lot of my own dishes and ate from home mainly. If I was to go anywhere, I would cook my own dishes and bring them to any outings or parties I attended.

Sadly, eating out for most vegans even at times today still equates to hot chips on a menu as your option, if the venue isn’t inclusive and cater for plant-based options.

Luckily in the last 5 years veganism has become much more mainstream and so many places now offer many beautiful options. There are so many new vegan alternate products that exist now as well, I could only have dreamed of having when I first became a vegan. So many people are embracing veganism as a positive lifestyle choice nowadays rather than the negativity and denialism I and many vegans have had to face due to society not understanding our choices and way of life.

I’m happy to see how open people are now going vegan and understanding that there are other ways to live, thrive and exist that don’t cause unnecessary harm to another’s way of life.

I love being a vegan, it’s one of the best decisions I ever made for myself and it aligns with my souls purpose, who I am and what I stand for. It’s a choice for life that has so many positives to it and it just makes you happier over all when you make good choices, not only for yourself, but for animals it’s one of the most selfless things you can do. Anyone I know that has made the transition to veganism has now realised how much happier they are because of the impact it has had on their health and wellbeing as well as their mental and emotional health by not contributing negatively to the environment and the suffering of the life of an animal.

Logically it simply makes sense, we have the chance to live as peacefully and kindly as we can and when we do, our souls are simply happier and at peace. They are no longer restless or feel conflicted anymore.

I have some wonderful cafes and restaurants around where I live that make some of my favourite vegan dishes and food.

Four seasons Bistro Mittagong is a vegan family run café, Sue and Derek are the owners, Derek is the Chef.
Raw and Wild café in Bowral has beautiful vegan options and Rolland is the lovely owner.
Spring of life a beautiful family run business that does vegetarian/ vegan sushi and Asian cuisine.
Veggie Nook at The Mill in Bowral.
Karma Tea house Vegetarian/vegan cuisine in Wollongong.
The shaggy cow at Mittagong has a dedicated vegan menu.

caramalised banana french toast from Four seasons bistro Mittagong NSW

Vegan cheesy lentil cannelloni in a tomato herb sauce from four seasons bistro Mittagong NSW

Grilled pumpkin Bruschetta with beetroot hummus steamed greens and carrot curls toasted hazelnuts and balsamic glaze from Espresso Warriors Mittagong NSW

Terriyaki grilled tofu sushi poke bowl with vegan kewpi toasted seawed, seaweed salad and rice topped with black sesame seeds from Cafe Treeo in Sawtell NSW

Some of my favourite home cooked and go to meals I love to make are Buddha bowls that are veggie loaded, Stir fries, curries, burgers, salads and pastas. They are big in my house as regular visitors.

chickpea omelette with cooked mushies and veggies topped with vegan feta fresh herbs ( home dish)

Living vegan has become one of the easiest things we can achieve in today’s society with more and more friendly venues popping up and social acceptance around this way of living than ever before.
Delvene

Being vegan has a lot of misconceptions people struggle with, one being that we don’t get a balanced diet and that we are unhealthy because we don’t consume animals or that being vegan is too expensive, amongst other judgements and assumptions that can often be levelled at vegans without much information or validity to back up the stance to refute what veganism stands for. I feel these are the main ones.

The best way I explain to others how it’s not only more affordable being vegan, but actually how good eating a healthy and balanced plant-based diet is, is simply by living by example and showing others through my cooking and giving helpful tips and advice on what vegans can and do and eat and where to get products.

home made Vegan Vanilla custard slice with a lemon passionfruit icing

Home made vanilla, lemon and lavender infused tea cake with a vanilla and dried lavender icing.

One thing I love about animals and especially my own is they teach us alot of things but none more important than to love unconditionally
Delvene

I like to show people most of my food is plant based and comprised of veggies more so than the vegan meats and vegan cheeses which can be expensive at times, these items can always be budgeted for should they be needed for a dish.

I also like to educate on the point that eating a balanced healthy diet comes down to our choices as an individual and that there are many meat consumers who do not even eat their fruit and vegetables or have a balanced diet in anyway. Vegans eat more plants, grains, fruits, nuts, legumes, leafy greens than the average person on an animal meat inclusive diet who does try to incorporate plant-based foods in their diet to be more balanced.

I also recommend vegan documentaries I’m familiar with just to help others have a better understanding of what it means to be vegan and the positive impacts it can have on one’s life and body.

The best advice I can give to someone starting out and wanting to go vegan is don’t be hard on yourself, it can be overwhelming especially for those who do not understand what it means to live a vegan life and what that entails.

It isn’t hard to do, there is so much information out there now and so many great recipes, products, cafes, people, and groups that can help you on your journey. In today’s world, being a vegan is much easier and more convenient than it ever has and isn’t something to be scared of or worried about doing.

There is always enough happiness, love, passion, success to go around
Delvene

Just take your time learning, growing and understanding what it means to live vegan and go at your own pace. Some people can just change overnight and for some change can take time, everyone’s journeys are different, but it’s our need and want to change to do better and be better that drives the change for better in this world and in our individual lives.

All I can say is, once you decide to change the way you see life around you and the lives of animals as something to nurture respect and protect, you start to see the world through different eyes. And you find yourself wanting to change and make a good impact on the world not only for yourself but the world in general.

Veganism is living with a purpose of existing in as much peace love and harmony as you can.
With fresh eyes you see how beautiful all life really is and through the lens of veganism, peace, love and harmony, you can truly see the value of the life of another. It’s through this new vision that we change the world and our lives for the better.

With love to all on their journey’s. May you find the peace, love and happiness that helps you walk the path of living with kindness and benevolence. Not only for yourself, but for the lives of all animals and life on our beautiful planet we call home.