Noodling around at lunchtime today, I found a lovely post called And the winner is... over at Vegan Hope. I am crossposting here and adding a few wishes of my own....
(comments in italics are mine too)
My vegan wishes…
That I could present the facts and information to skeptics in a clear concise way.
(- a major wish of mine too)
That my friends and family would see truth before it is too late.
That the general population would come to grips that they are being lied to every single day by the food industry.
That diabetics (type 1 & 2) could know there is an answer, and it is not a hard one.
(- and that those who DO know this would actually stick to their vegan choices - you know who you are!)
That going vegan to people was something that sounded easy and enjoyable (because it actually is)
That people would understand the cruelty of what is done in order for them to consume the food they eat.
That people would understand the harsh addictions that are in things like dairy and meat.
That people would not associate political motives for things like living healthy, refusing to accept cruelty and destroying the earth.
(- when did kindness and compassion become politically subversive concepts?)
That people in all religions and non religion would be able to incorporate a compassionate life, and would want to treat their body with respect and honor by living as healthy as they could.
That people would realize they are strong enough to break their addictions and from what they think they could never change.
That people could understand why we have the diseases that we do.
(- not to mention the ones we're saving up for the future)
That people would see truth as something that is beautiful, and be thankful for it.
That people would WANT to live and thrive.
That people could understand what it is to feel life, to be healthy, and to be contributing to saving life.
That people would come together to help one another, not to rip each other apart.
That people would see past what the media shoves down their throats.
That factory farms would be made with glass walls, so that we could see what is happening.
That I could give people an ounce of what it feels like to be so sick that you are afraid you won’t make it another day, and let them know that if they continue to do what they are doing, they will most likely end up in the same place.
That I could give people an ounce of what it feels like to actually be healthy, full of energy.
That I could give people the strength they need to make it through a couple of weeks of detox.
That everyone could see themselves on the other end of giving up what they feel they could never give up, and see that it wasn’t that hard after all.
(- absolutely!)
And I have a few of my own to add:
That people would accept once and for all that fish and chickens and other non-red-meat-types are not vegetables. They are animals. And as such they have no part of a vegetarian diet.
That slaughterhouses had glass walls and that a visit was compulsory for every meat eater to see the reality for themselves.
That people could break through the arbitrary distinctions they make between the animals we cuddle and the animals we eat. Dogs, cats, pigs, sheep...they all just want to live.
That the concept of being vegan was not immediately dismissed as radical and extreme even by those who should know better.
That there was a will to understand and that empathy was a norm in our society.
That no-one would seriously believe that the satisfaction of a fleeting moment's taste of meat could ever justify the unconscionable abuse and torture of fellow beings.
That we could all - for one moment - experience life as a farmed food animal. (In Anna Sewell's novel 'Black Beauty', the equine narrator says something along the lines of 'I used to think seeing was believing. Now I know it is not: feeling is believing'. That is an elegant distinction.
What are your vegan wishes?
