Awake

1533: 

As a vegan I sometimes feel like an alarm clock, resented for making an unwanted wake-up call, but later appreciated for the jolt given to the new day, for putting forward a new way of seeing things.

But there again, I often feel as if I’ve been thrown against the wall, so my bell no longer works and my timer’s stopped, and that’s because I haven’t learnt how NOT to make myself sound unpopular.  I often wonder whether we vegans are trying to wake people or alarm them.

As potential 'persuaders', vegans can sometimes be a bit heavy booted.  We always hope others will understand our good intentions, but we can come across like old time preachers.  The fact is that we don’t really know how to get hardened omnivores to like eating vegan food or like animals enough to make a few personal sacrifices.  We resort to finger wagging or disapproving or making value judgements, none of which have the intended effect.  We even give them the old “look-at-me-look-at-my-health-aren’t-I-the-clever-one” treatment, but that just seems like big noting ourselves.  All we can know for sure is that we must keep trying to break through, even though we keep failing.

Perhaps we need to kill off the strict, clean-living image.  We have to squash the idea that we are eaters of dull-but-nutritious food.  If it has to be about food, then we’ll get further by letting our friends taste what we eat, and get them to want to eat that way themselves.  Then let them see an attractive lifestyle.  And include in the mix that spark of pleasure we get, for having such strong arguments to hold on to, and finding it ridiculous to think any other way.  Ultimately we're aiming for something like a plan for Earth’s brilliant future, aiming as high as you can get, knowing it will happen that way, as in a self-fulfilling prophecy.

To carry that off, we need to be happy within ourselves, for the stand we’ve taken and the habits we’ve mastered, and the conventions we’ve overturned.  We shouldn’t need to push our point or seem desperate when arguing our case.  If we're already there, feeling safe and sure, then we can express ourselves best by showing a different sort of sensitivity.  We don’t need to draw attention to ourselves, especially by seeming better than anybody else.

But we do need to be seen as experimenters.  In that role, we might have to show off a bit, but only to better present some important life-saving ideas, as part of a grand plan.  And if this Grand Plan seems whacky (this preposterous idea of not using animals for anything) all we have to do is simply wait.  Show patience while we let the penny to drop.  Let the idea work for itself.

We don’t need to rush anyone (we'll only achieve the opposite).  No need to prove we’re different. No need to give anyone an excuse to stamp us as ‘crazy’.  Instead we can be like a radio station that's tuned into and out of, at will; we're simply presenting a good idea for improving the quality of life.  And if we're seen to be telling a good story, then it should be an integral part of social justice, about living harmlessly and respectfully.  From that reference point we can let people draw their own conclusions.

As an advocate for both animal and human welfare, our message should be simple, subtle and soft.  It should be about non-violent progress presented in subtle, persuasive ways without the use of sledge-hammer tactics or resorting to negative slogans, such as ‘meat is murder’.