Escaping the pit

If we are going to find a way back to sanity and get a tad more freedom for ourselves we must know that we aren’t trapped in the pit, that it is escapable, and that nothing obliges us to inhabit what I’m calling ‘the pit’.
As things stand at present we can all see how certain human behaviours are dangerous and nonsensical. To help us navigate around these habits we might choose to use ‘the little people’ (you know, the ones sitting on our shoulders).
Once we listen to what they’ve had to say we’re almost home and hosed, or at least we’ll feel okay about coming this far. Almost suddenly it feels like we’re half way out of the pit. The pessimist (the glass-half-empty type) says there is such nonsense in the pit that it has a drag-down effect. Some believe it’s too much to fight free from. How can we live with idiots? How can we stay sane? How can we escape? And overall, how can we help the enslaved animals?
Optimists don’t go there. They see what is unfolding, albeit slow, they see the glass half full. They don’t forget the horror or the need to fight tooth and nail to replace it but they know the pit. Optimists know the connection between escaping the pit and putting in something more than half an effort towards escaping. They know they are earning their right to be free and they know that part of their own right is to establish freedom for our animal slaves. By getting this into perspective, by weighing the energy needed, the optimist glances across the divide, at the bosses (the ‘1%’ers’) for clues on how to make the-supreme-effort.
As efforts go their energy-to-task ratio is inspiring! When they want something they will stop at nothing to get it. They invest in a certain type of energy, and, once energised they keep it that way and keep their advantage.
They know the more energy you put in the more you get out. They never forget to put in more energy than anyone else. Material success blossoms by ruthlessness and high energy input. If ‘industry’ ran churches they’d stop at nothing to keep their congregation together. Evangelist and industrialist come out of the same basket, they’re controllers, and their grip is strong. To escape them we need to outwit them, maybe with something special.
If we can find something to help build a head of steam (…of course I’m likely to suggest that vegan activism is all you need for that!) we’ll pick up momentum and arrive at somewhere big. Eureka, we find it, we go for it, we ride it like a wave. It feels fabulous, it feels right, it heralds the very future itself … but as time goes on the ‘bigness’ tests us. Once we get past the honeymoon our commitment is tested. Our interest, our passion, our stamina is tested. If we take vegan activism as our example we discover so much about animals and food and compassion but the down side is that we’re almost alone. Most causes bring with them alone-ness. But loneliness, aloneness, solo flying, risk taking, they all may be essential. We might need to feel lonely and sad to build strength. The pit is no easy place to leave. Particular strengths are needed not just to combat our adversaries but for our own ESCAPE. Going vegan is not escaping, but it’s the first space suit we wear to break away from the strong gravitational pull of the pit managers and the collective consciousness they’ve moulded.