Questions
Look into her eyes,
Can you feel her pain?
Can you see the fear?
Isn't it quite plain?
She lived a life of misery
For your appetite and greed.
Her suffering has finally ended
When we slit her throat to bleed.
And for what? A burger?
A steak that's bloody rare.
Kentucky fried legs-of-birds,
Fillet of fish dispair.
Ingesting pain and suffering,
Fear and anger too.
Because eating the corpse of an animal
Is something that we 'just do'.
**************
Slowing Down
Where are we going so fast?
As if shot from a cannon blast...
Hurling and spinning
Through time and space,
As if trying to win some...
Insane race.
Seems like rushing and spinning
Has gone out of control,
And all of this madness
Is taking its toll.
Headaches and backaches,
Sickness and strain.
Depression and cancer,
Anger and pain.
Stop for a minute
And cherish the hour.
Stare into the blue sky,
Sniff at the flower.
Soak up the sunshine,
Savor the rain,
Smile at the moonshine....
Release all the pain.
Let peace enter and joy abide.
Remember compassion...
Keep love on your side.
Take a deep breath
And come to the place
Where life's in each moment,
And not in the race.
The numbness that holds you
Will soon slip away.
Your heart will rejoice,
Your soul will go out to play.
Compassion will fill you
And next thing you know,
The desire to eat animals
Will get up and go! :-)
Love will spread in your heart
Just like a wildfire.
Joy and peace will be
Your consuming desire.
Time will not matter
And rushing will cease.
Each day will bring you
Love and sweet peace.
by Micky
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Carnist/Vegetarian/Vegan
It was July 2009 when I became a vegetarian. Due to a prominent birthday, and seeing the movie "Food, Inc" it was a good time for change in my life. Over the past 20+ years I'd attempted to eat a vegetarian diet, and it would usually last a month or so, and I'd go back to carnism. However, this time was different, I knew it in my heart. I knew there was no going back, this time.
After watching "Food, Inc"I came out of the movie theatre thinking 'what can I safely eat??' I began to read labels. To REALLY read labels. I'd spend 2 hours in the grocery store, reading labels. I went to various grocery stores, trying to find foods I felt it was safe to eat. I found that I needed to buy organic whenever possible. Not only to stay away from pesticides and chemical fertilizers but to avoid genetically altered 'foods' as well. Meanwhile I was reading. I read books like "The World Peace Diet" by Dr Will Tuttle, "The Food Revolution" by John Robbins, "The Ethics of What We Eat" by Peter Singer and Jim Mason, "The Face On Your Plate" by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver, "In Defense Of Food", by Michael Pollan, "Eating Animals" by Jonathan Safran Foer, "Skinny Bitch" by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin, "The Missing Peace" by Tina Volpe and Judy Carman, "Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs and Wear Cows" by Melanie Joy.....and more.
At the time I was buying and eating organic dairy products, but the more I read, the more I began to question....and I started contacting the dairy's that my cheese came from, to find out more about the cows....for instance....what happens to the cows when they are 'past their prime' and you no longer use them for milk? I was thinking (hoping) that these places loved their cows so much that they would put them to pasture and let them live out long, happy lives.
Oh Mick, you are so naive!
I found out that the cows on the organic farms go to slaughter just like cows on non-organic 'farms' do.
And of course, they are kept pregnant and their babies are taken from them shortly after birth, and on and on.
And then my little miracle began to happen. Cheese....my beloved cheese, that I thought I could NEVER give up, began not tasting so good. It began to taste like pain and suffering and misery and sorrow. Those were things I didn't want to take into my body, so it wasn't a question of 'giving up' dairy (and eggs too)....like the animals I ate before them, I no longer wanted those things. The change came from inside.
I remember the defining moment. I was reading "Skinny Bitch" and a slaughterhouse worker was being interviewed. I won't go in to what he said, but it was so appalling and shocking to me that I knew there and then, I could not be part of that system any longer.
Compassion was growing in me!
Also, I cannot leave out the fact that my dogs, Joy and Shiloh, are helping me on this path. These two sweet, loving, innocent beings that share my life with me....that have emotions....wants, needs, lives of their own....and they are animals, that in some places, might be someones dinner.
So....given the fact that I live in a place where non-animal foods are abundant, and I'm in a position to procure them at will, and they are more than sufficient to keep me healthy, I have no need to eat animals or their secretions. No need and no desire. And in fact, as time goes on, it becomes more and more unpleasant and painful for me to see others eat them.
As I continue on this vegan path then, I find the need to extend more compassion to those who do eat animals, and who pay for others to give them lives of misery and to slaughter them. I see these people....my friends, my family, and the rest of the "pre-vegan" world....as still asleep. They have not yet awakened. And I see myself as perhaps someone who can gently awaken them. Or not. But I can try, in whatever ways open up to me.
I'm not a perfectionist. I feel that every meal that someone eats, that does NOT contain animals or their secretions, is a step in the right direction. If someone feels best to start off with "Meatless Monday" or "Meatless March" or one meatless meal a day or a week...hey....I'm all for that! Each meatless and/or dairy-less, eggless meal decreases suffering.
Like they say in "Food, Inc", you get to vote three times a day. You vote with your fork.
WE CAN CHANGE. We can give life, instead of taking it. We can decrease suffering.
We can show mercy and live kind.
After watching "Food, Inc"I came out of the movie theatre thinking 'what can I safely eat??' I began to read labels. To REALLY read labels. I'd spend 2 hours in the grocery store, reading labels. I went to various grocery stores, trying to find foods I felt it was safe to eat. I found that I needed to buy organic whenever possible. Not only to stay away from pesticides and chemical fertilizers but to avoid genetically altered 'foods' as well. Meanwhile I was reading. I read books like "The World Peace Diet" by Dr Will Tuttle, "The Food Revolution" by John Robbins, "The Ethics of What We Eat" by Peter Singer and Jim Mason, "The Face On Your Plate" by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver, "In Defense Of Food", by Michael Pollan, "Eating Animals" by Jonathan Safran Foer, "Skinny Bitch" by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin, "The Missing Peace" by Tina Volpe and Judy Carman, "Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs and Wear Cows" by Melanie Joy.....and more.
At the time I was buying and eating organic dairy products, but the more I read, the more I began to question....and I started contacting the dairy's that my cheese came from, to find out more about the cows....for instance....what happens to the cows when they are 'past their prime' and you no longer use them for milk? I was thinking (hoping) that these places loved their cows so much that they would put them to pasture and let them live out long, happy lives.
Oh Mick, you are so naive!
I found out that the cows on the organic farms go to slaughter just like cows on non-organic 'farms' do.
And of course, they are kept pregnant and their babies are taken from them shortly after birth, and on and on.
And then my little miracle began to happen. Cheese....my beloved cheese, that I thought I could NEVER give up, began not tasting so good. It began to taste like pain and suffering and misery and sorrow. Those were things I didn't want to take into my body, so it wasn't a question of 'giving up' dairy (and eggs too)....like the animals I ate before them, I no longer wanted those things. The change came from inside.
I remember the defining moment. I was reading "Skinny Bitch" and a slaughterhouse worker was being interviewed. I won't go in to what he said, but it was so appalling and shocking to me that I knew there and then, I could not be part of that system any longer.
Compassion was growing in me!
Also, I cannot leave out the fact that my dogs, Joy and Shiloh, are helping me on this path. These two sweet, loving, innocent beings that share my life with me....that have emotions....wants, needs, lives of their own....and they are animals, that in some places, might be someones dinner.
So....given the fact that I live in a place where non-animal foods are abundant, and I'm in a position to procure them at will, and they are more than sufficient to keep me healthy, I have no need to eat animals or their secretions. No need and no desire. And in fact, as time goes on, it becomes more and more unpleasant and painful for me to see others eat them.
As I continue on this vegan path then, I find the need to extend more compassion to those who do eat animals, and who pay for others to give them lives of misery and to slaughter them. I see these people....my friends, my family, and the rest of the "pre-vegan" world....as still asleep. They have not yet awakened. And I see myself as perhaps someone who can gently awaken them. Or not. But I can try, in whatever ways open up to me.
I'm not a perfectionist. I feel that every meal that someone eats, that does NOT contain animals or their secretions, is a step in the right direction. If someone feels best to start off with "Meatless Monday" or "Meatless March" or one meatless meal a day or a week...hey....I'm all for that! Each meatless and/or dairy-less, eggless meal decreases suffering.
Like they say in "Food, Inc", you get to vote three times a day. You vote with your fork.
WE CAN CHANGE. We can give life, instead of taking it. We can decrease suffering.
We can show mercy and live kind.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Changes
Growing causes changes.
Humans fine growth and change a difficult thing sometimes, because it causes us to step out of our comfort zone....but really, it all depends on the motivation for the changes. Generally, there are three motivations to live vegan.
1. Compassion for animals
2. Health concerns
3. Ecological concerns
For me it's all about the animals and I find that improving my health and the condition of the earth mother are the happy side effects.
A Whopper or a bowl of mac & cheese used to put me in my comfort zone, food wise, as did grilled cheese, ham on rye, cheese pizza with pepperoni....oh my. (notice how cheese seems to be a common theme?:-))
But I've changed, and those things no longer give me comfort, in fact they make me very UNcomfortable, cause me to grieve, and I have no desire for them. My new comfort foods are things like lentil stew, split pea soup, fresh baked bread, veggie burgers, rice and beans with greens, and the most yummy pizza made with Daiya cheese and lots of veggies....all home made with mainly organic ingredients and lots of love.
These are the changes that people see in me right now, and they are vast and cause a whole new lifestyle, but what I feel inside is the really amazing part....
and I'll get into that next time:-)
Humans fine growth and change a difficult thing sometimes, because it causes us to step out of our comfort zone....but really, it all depends on the motivation for the changes. Generally, there are three motivations to live vegan.
1. Compassion for animals
2. Health concerns
3. Ecological concerns
For me it's all about the animals and I find that improving my health and the condition of the earth mother are the happy side effects.
A Whopper or a bowl of mac & cheese used to put me in my comfort zone, food wise, as did grilled cheese, ham on rye, cheese pizza with pepperoni....oh my. (notice how cheese seems to be a common theme?:-))
But I've changed, and those things no longer give me comfort, in fact they make me very UNcomfortable, cause me to grieve, and I have no desire for them. My new comfort foods are things like lentil stew, split pea soup, fresh baked bread, veggie burgers, rice and beans with greens, and the most yummy pizza made with Daiya cheese and lots of veggies....all home made with mainly organic ingredients and lots of love.
These are the changes that people see in me right now, and they are vast and cause a whole new lifestyle, but what I feel inside is the really amazing part....
and I'll get into that next time:-)
Monday, December 20, 2010
Growing Vegan
Growing Vegan. Going Vegan. That's what is on my mind, and that's what I want to blog about. I'm saying 'growing vegan' because that's what is happening to me. It's not like you are an omnivore, or a vegetarian one day and suddenly you are a vegan the next day, and that's it.
As it turns out, veganism is a process. It begins when a seed is planted. (pun intended:-)
Growth rates can be very different. Time from first planting until a shoot appears may take days or weeks or years, it just depends on the seed, and the circumstances, and the person.
The first thing the casual observer might notice is that someone begins eating a bit differently than they have in the past. They might order a veggie burger instead of a hamburger. But the dietary changes are just an outward sign of inward changes.
Actually there must be as many paths to veganism as there are vegans. Weather your path is straight and narrow or long and winding, I hope and encourage you to be ON IT, because the places it can lead you can be quite amazing, as I'm just beginning to learn. I believe that there is no end to this path or the growth that goes on as you walk it. You take one step at a time and see what happens. This little blog will be my way of documenting what happens on my particular path. There are changes going on that I'd like to keep track of. There are already so many that I don't know where to start....but hey!...I 'have' started!
Peace.
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