A Pandemic of Hope

January 1, 2020 Reflection: The first sunset of the new decade from my kitchen window. This began as an Instagram post of the sunset with just the first sentence and as I reflected to myself I just kept typing!
Every year people say stuff like let this be the best year ever...but resolutions can fail and we can get discouraged. I know I have...I struggle daily to get even simple things accomplished! As a result of a car accident, I lost my career, endure constant pain and fatigue, and have spent 9-10 of the last 11 years inside my house by myself. It has been HARD, some of the worst time of my life. And despite being isolated from family, friends and society, I have turned as much of this time as possible into positivity and learning, not wanting my suffering to overtake me since I’ve lost so much already. Because of my pain, I have developed so much compassion for the pain & suffering of others. It has made me face the injustices in this world on a deeper level than just 30 second news stories which many quickly put in their thought trash bin. It’s 2020 and STILL, RIGHT NOW, millions of people and animals are being oppressed (often for the momentary pleasure of another) by the daily actions and habits of governments, corporations, businesses, cities, YOU...ME. I am turning my pain and loss and suffering into trying to mitigate, or remove completely, the suffering of others. I have almost 100% eliminated animal products from my diet. Yes, I am now a vegan and I know the jokes because I used to make them and I’d roll my eyes, like many people do. Back then I didn’t know the truth about what really happens to animals before they end up on our plates. But I was exposed to the HORROR of animal agriculture. It is HORRIFYING. I can no longer participate in that, not to mention the damage animal agriculture does to the planet...that’s another thing I’ve woken up to. We are ruining our planet. In my lifetime we may end up in an apocalyptic circumstances. That is INSANE. This is happening because of the actions of the majority of the world’s population not giving a shit about the effect of our driving pollution and where all the crap we buy ends up after we’re done with it. We just pack it up and put it on the side of the road and someone magically takes it away, either to the dump or to some far off place we probably will never have to see...like a refund to amazon or the recycling depot. Do you know how much damage our consumerism is doing? “Child labour refers to the exploitation of children through any form of work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and is mentally, physically, socially or morally harmful.” (Wikipedia) Chances are most of the things you & I wear and use daily INVOLED THE OPPRESSION of a child or adult to get to our doorstep. That is SO messed up.

We are in this disaster TOGETHER because rich business men/women and corporations are constantly trying to make convenience and comfort more and more accessible to everyone. But we need to be UNCOMFORTABLE, start facing the realities of what our lives are costing SOMEONE or SOMETHING ELSE, not us. Exploitation of children and adults. Abuse and murder of animals. Slow and imminent death of our planet, us. If you made it this far into my post, thank you! That means you’re not a total jerk...and I don’t think I have any friends who are real jerks 🤣 But seriously, guys I love you. You need to GET REAL! Start making significant changes in your life to try unscrew the earth and its occupants. Don’t make the excuse that you’re too busy or it’s too hard to augment your life. You know what’s hard?!?! Being oppressed for real, working all day for almost no money in an unsafe factory, being jolted with electric rods and forced into a chamber where you’re shot in the head or your throat is slit so someone can have some cheese or bacon, living on the street because your life fell apart and you didn’t have a caring and responsible support network, not knowing where you’re next meal to feed yourself and your kids is going to come from, seeing the horrors of war as a soldier or citizen because some asshole guys continue to grapple for more control, more money. And I want to empathize I am not anywhere near perfect and I have a long way to go. But what I can say now is that with almost every decision, every action I take I think first about the impact that choice will have on people, animals and the planet, not me and my benefit. I feel convicted a lot and so I often no longer make the choice that suits me best. It is hard sometimes, most times; and it can be stressful. People have made fun of me for recycling and reusing to more and more extremes, gotten annoyed with my now vegan diet, rattled my anger as they tried to justify their support of fast fashion and not caring about how much they drive vs. walk or take transit. However, my stress over a decision or having to change my habits and endure the ignorance of others is NOTHING COMPARED to the stress and pain caused to others by me choosing what brings me convenience and comfort. So again GET UNCOMFORTABLE and better yet, get uncomfortable WITH ME! In the last 12 months I have realized it can be lonely being an activist, but I understand loneliness really well already because of the car accident. So although my life may have been greatly damaged and derailed, it has helped me to see myself and the world differently and prompted me to work towards leaving people, animals and places better than I did before; I feel like I’m on the right track...and I could use some company ;)❤️