As you know from my previous articles, I’ve been slowly but surely getting away from using commercial products in favor of more natural ones. Last year I started making the switch from processed foods to fresh and home-cooked. A lot of people think I’m weird. I’m not following along with society, so I’m this oddball doing “weird” things. Why do people think that?

What really gets me is realizing that I used to think that way too. Early last year a friend told me they were going to be “washing” their hair with baking soda. I smiled and nodded, but in the back of my head I was thinking “What a weirdo!” I thought people rubbing crystals in their armpits instead of using deodorant was just stupid. I thought that people eating all-natural was just a fad. Now I’m eating as naturally as I can and using loads of natural products, many of which I’m making myself. I feel embarrassed that I ever thought badly of anyone else.

It’s like we get trained by society to think certain things are normal, and we don’t even realize that we’ve been totally brainwashed. It’s all about the money, really. Companies want to sell us things, so they engineer advertisements and information so that we think we’re abnormal if we’re not buying and using certain products. It’s become “normal” to live on canned and frozen foods, so you’re “weird” if you’re buying fresh food and cooking it yourself. It’s “normal” to buy harmful, chemical-laden health and beauty products, so you’re “weird” if you’re going natural or going without certain products.

The more I switch, the more I see the social brainwashing. I keep talking about the changes I’m making, mostly to do my small part to take the stigma out of being more natural. I joked today that I’m “turning into one of those all-natural, yoga-loving hippies”. It’s kind of a bad joke due to the stereotype, but I did it more to break the stereotype than to enforce it. I love the switches I’m making and I’m encouraging others to do it to, just in a gentle way.

I think that’s part of the “weird” aspect too. For some reason, if someone going natural is telling everyone about it and suggesting that others try it, it’s odd and wrong. However, when someone raves about a commercial product and tries to get other people to eat/use/buy it, everyone thinks that’s okay. It’s the same thing. We’re just educating people and promoting something we like. It’s no more odd for me to tell you how awesome my homemade shampoo is than it is for you to tell me how awesome your name-brand commercial shampoo is.

At any rate, I’m pretty much over feeling strange about what I’m doing. I still feel a tad odd, but it’s fading fast. I’m doing better things for my body and saving money in the process. What’s weird about that? I’m actually thinking now that it’s kind of scary that people are still using all that stuff from the store shelves that’s about as far from natural as you can get. I’m not going to push anyone to do what I’m doing, but I’m going to share and I’m not going to feel like a freak about it. I’m doing what I think is right for me.

Briana Blair

Briana Blair is an author and artisan. She has published more then 30 books and thousands of articles across multiple sites. After practicing Paganism and witchcraft for 25 years, she's now on a journey as an atheist and skeptic. She's eclectic, unpredictable, and always evolving. Facebook - Twitter