Little Kiddies.

Recently I've been feeling uncomfortably negative an cynical... A condition I attribute mostly to the simple fact that I am legally obligated to be in school every day for seven hours, with a structured schedule...rather than frolicking half naked in the hot sun all day - that coupled with other unfortunate realities such as the cooling weather, rarely getting adequate amounts of sleep, as well as being forced to spend the majority of my day the people I've grown up with - many of whom for whatever reason suddenly seem unbearably immature, self absorbed, and ignorant. I don't like thinking that way about people, and it kind of freaks me out that I have been. But anyhow, some part of this equation has lead to my existence becoming less than healthy, happy, and beautiful... And from there I fear it may have begun snowballing, especially had I not noticed it. Anyhow, that's not what this post is about. Just an observation, kind of. Haha.

So, last year, I got a job after school working with elementary aged kids. After about four months off, we started again this Monday - and just two days in, I've noticed just how much calmer, happier, more positive, and humbled I feel. I think something about working with young children is very therapeutic.

I love their honesty, I love their impressionability, I love their energy, I love their individuality, I love their curiosity.

I like that the job forces me to forget about myself and what's going on in my head for a few hours in a day, and focus on the children and their needs. I love seeing children engaged in and excited about learning. I love being able to help stimulate the kids. I love the idea that the things I do can help the child to further develop and learn.

It's amazing what the responsibility and privilege of caring for a little kid can do for a person. I definitely recommend it. (:

Better Than Everyone Else?

My dad sometimes alludes to the idea that I put myself on a pedestal, or that I think I am better than others because I am a vegan, and I know that this is not uncommon when thinking of vegans.

Umm, hello? I love Daddy, but honestly that is a really stupid argument. When I tell you that you should cut out dairy because it causes things like osteoporosis, obesity, and cancer, it's not because I want to put you down and make you feel bad about drinking it. It's because I care enough about you to want to help you do better. When I comment on the way eating steak contributes to starvation in Africa, it is a desperate attempt to make you understand how drastically your choices are effecting others, and to help you improve those choices. It is not me trying to make you feel bad about what you are eating. When I tell you that the chicken that laid those eggs you had for breakfast lived out her life in a tiny cage where she couldn't so much as flap her wings, I'm not trying to make myself feel better because I don't support that. I'm trying to make you understand, so you won't support it either.

I went vegan because I decided that me and my taste buds are not more important than a suffering animal, or a starving child. I did my homework and decided that rather than blaming big companies and people around me for my obesity and health problems, I was going to take responsibility for my own life and my own health.

The way I see it, if you see me pointing these things out to you as me "putting myself on a pedestal", then somewhere in your mind, you are putting my actions on that pedestal. When I tell you about how animal farming contributes to 18% of greenhouse gasses, you are, probably subconsciously, deciding that it would be better not to contribute to that - and therefore placing me (who does not support animal farming) above you (who does) in your head. Naturally, there are only two ways to combat this.

Your first option is to raise yourself to the same level as me in your mind, and go vegan.

The second is to resent me and tell yourself things like "vegans are snotty and self -absorbed," "vegans think they are better than everyone else," and "vegans are stupid and they are going to die from lack of protein." The idea is to pull me back down a few notches, so we are at the same level again in your mind.

So next time you are hating on vegans, think about that. Are you bettering yourself, or just bringing others down to make yourself feel better?

Edit: Decided to make a video based on this post, if you'd rather watch than read:

Things To Remember

Doubtlessly, everybody already knows everything that's on this list. I thought it would be good for me to have something to look back at during my weak moments, mostly.

• Don't take stuff too personally
• Don't take stuff too seriously - You are young; nothing ever stays the same, especially at this age. Enjoy the ride and don't stress about the details of right now.
• Remember that everybody has reasons for believing what they do and feeling what they do, and everybody (no, I changed my mind - everything) has something to add to your life.
• If life isn't ment to be fun, then what is it? Overlook/deal with the bad, and enjoy the good - there's no point being alive if you're not going to be happy.
• Everybody and everything deserves to be happy. Never allow yourself to be someone who's happiness benefits from the unhappiness of someone else. Do what you can to bring happiness, and a chance to be happy, to others.
• Remember that you will always have people there who love you and care for you, even if at the time it seems there aren't. Remember the first person on this list always must be yourself - and nobody can take that away from you but yourself.
• Forget jealousy. No matter how badly someone wronged you, it is a waste of valuable time and energy and, most importantly, happiness, when you are bitter. Forgive them, and love them as though they never wronged you.
• Take time to listen and observe. You don't always need to be talking. You can learn and benefit a lot from listening to others' information, ideas, opinions, and point of view.
• Always think before acting. Do not be consumed by anger or some other emotion and be driven to act out of impulse. Think through all of your words and actions and you will regret much less.
• Remember that, no matter who it is - you are never any better than the person next to you. Or worse. Everybody is different, with different strengths and weaknesses. In the end, we are all equal....and should be treated/treat others as such.

Circle Of Life

A common argument that people seem to have when I tell them about what I eat, and why, is "Eating meat, and death is kind of just the circle of life," or something to that effect. This is true. It is a dog eat dog world. Kill or be killed, eat or be eaten.

It is also worth noting that in this 'circle of life' people would die in harsh winters, without a way to keep warm. People would starve to death or be eaten by a predator should they break a leg. Chances are there would be no blind or deaf among us. Certainly no special ed left. Why? Because that would be the circle of life. A disability such as any mentioned above would render the person unable to care for themselves, and therefore they would die. So why don't they?

Because we have overcome the circle of life. With our highly developed brains capable reason and understanding and caring and compassion and love, we have found ways around the circle of life. In the same way that it should be no trouble to avoid this so-called 'circle of life' that means ruthlessly and unneccessarily murdering other species for various reasons.

So why haven't we? I feel that at this point, we are still a relatively primative species. We have the brains and the capability - but we are still exploring them.

Imagine an eight year old who has inherited billions of dollars. Essentially, an inexhaustible amount of money. He uses it to buy video game systems, toys, fun things for himself. As he grows older, he learns to invest it, use it in wise ways to better his life, and probably those of the people around him. I would say we are somewhere in between these two stages, maybe closer to the second. However, as this lucky person grows even older, he is exposed to people hurting, starving, suffering. He realizes that his money will do so much more good being used to help benefit the entire world, rather than just he.

At this 'stage' in 'life' we realize that the world isn't all about us. This incredible intelligence isn't for making us as comfortable and happy as we can be personally, it's not for shutting us away from the world, removing us from its problems. No. These brains unlock a world that other animals havn't got access to, because, primitive as we are, they are more primitive - not even producing the capacity to love or care or reason (or so it would seem. I suppose I don't know for sure).

For this reason, it must be us that set the example for everything else. We need to be the ones to make our own decisions, based on our own ability to think and reason, not a primal animals urges to eat and procreate. We need to set an example. We, with the highest developed brains and highly developed societies, need to be an example to lesser species - not the other way around. Eating meat because your cat does would be like a 15-year-old girl peeing her pants because her 1-year-old sister does it.

We have the ability to reason and think and love. We have the ability to realize the beauty, the purity, the freedom, and necessity, of living a life of harmlessness and non-injury. All we need to do now is realize that, no matter how much we love the taste of chicken quasadillas, or grilled salmon, what we really want is to make the world a better place - like they taught us when we were young: Leave it better than we found it.

❤