1406:
Maybe as vegans we’re
convinced about our arguments concerning animal slavery, even though we know
that arguing our case is going to be a long, drawn-out, David and Goliath affair. The odds might seem stacked against us and
the tide not turning our way as quickly as we’d like, but we mustn’t be afraid
of energy loss from our efforts made.
We might spend time fretting
over our ineffectiveness, so we might try to steal energy from other
commitments. But then something else goes short – our relationships get
stretched. There’s never enough time to
do anything else well. We are torn
between doing more for Animal Rights and spending less time with family and
friends.
The original idea of Animal
Rights is totally inspiring. Too
interesting. Eventually it makes a call
on our energies – doing whatever we can to get closer to solving the mystery of
communicating this difficult subject. We
try to boost our energy by reading. It
serves to confirm how important this subject is, and from what we read we head
off with renewed energy. We look at
video footage, listen to speakers, discuss with our fellow activists. We do whatever it takes to keep up the passion
and outrage.
But there’s a balance to be
struck. If we let Animal Rights work
interfere with our personal life, things may start to go wrong with our energy
balance. Where is all this extra energy
we need supposed to come from? Certainly
we’re well endowed with it from the vegan food we eat. We aren’t any longer
sluggish from eating crap food and stodge. But mostly, we need motive energy, and that
comes from the sheer significance of what we are trying to achieve. So, it’s crucial to maintain a balance between
personal life and activist work but to get extra energy wherever we can find
it. And this isn’t always very easy. The burn-out rate amongst animal activists is
frightening.
If energy is a problem, maybe
we have to re-think energy, as to what it is and what type of energy we are
most in need of. To start with, we need
to consider energy not as a finite resource, like having so much petrol in the
tank to run our machine, but more like a self perpetuating resource - energy
out-put generating an in-put of energy. Motivational
energy, for such meaningful work, must become a type of energy that expands as
it expends.
Let’s say that acts of
usefulness or kindness, where there’s big investment on our part, may show
little reward in terms of achievement but show surprisingly little energy
depletion. Perhaps activism uses the
sort of energy where the more we use the more is replaced.
I find it works that way. As soon as I let go self interest, the
stronger the energy flow is. Could it be
that when energy is released for the ‘greater-good’ that we set off a chain
reaction? For instance, as soon as we begin to take an
interest in a forest, an animal, a human or any important global issue, that
the energy we need will appear, as if from nowhere? Maybe the opposite happens too, where
self-interest drains our energy. Perhaps
that’s the reason why the insatiable thirst of the greedy fits so well into the
‘more greed, more need’ pattern.
If energy supply really does
work like this (harmful sources like meat depleting energy, harmless sources
like plant food are efficient energy suppliers) it puts a new spin on things -
that however hard pressed we feel, there’s always going to be enough energy for
any meaningful activities.
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