Transitional stages

1544: 

Being part of the Animal Rights Movement is an advantage, not just for the vegan lifestyle it suggests but for developing a certain lightness-of-being.  If ever we can achieve that, we’ll find we make people feel less afraid of us.  On some level, people will always be able to recognise a non-violent person, and see in them someone they can trust, or at least not fear, or who’d be unable to even inadvertently do anything hurtful to others.

It’s hard to talk about this without seeming cute, but there are some distinct advantages in being non-threatening.  For a start, it lets us speak more freely, particularly about the subjects we want to talk about, without all the shutters going up at the outset.

Being Animal Rights-oriented, we might fail to appreciate how delicate the balance is between their refusing to know and their wanting to learn.  If we can see just how difficult this subject is for people to talk about, we might be less impatient, especially when people are obstinate or they don’t seem to understand what we’re on about.

In the end, we do have to care where others find themselves over all this, because we're all of us aware of the global problems to which we all contribute, just by the lifestyle we’ve chosen.  The one indisputable truth behind veganism and animal rights, apart from our access to robust health, is that it fosters working with Nature rather than against it.

The human race has been struggling to dominate Nature for a long time, and that’s probably the main cause of the global problems plaguing us today.  If we can find a way to use present systems harmlessly, we'll be in a far better position to consider others before embarking on harmful action; we'll make a break-through for ourselves and go on to want, more than anything else, to communicate to others what we’ve found.

Passion, enthusiasm and what sounds like altruism requires morale, good mood and a genial disposition.  And, in turn, that means we’ve got to be able to overcome the odds against us, including the lack of support from friends, family and even fellow vegans.  If we ever get disappointed by people, there might be value in that disappointment.  As others draw away, we become less reliant on encouragement from those we’re closest to.  Morale has to be largely self-generated.  And if we’re going to be promoting Animal Rights, morale is going to be important.  The biggest challenge, after all, is to take whatever comes our way and feel the link to other vegans who’re facing the same sort of challenge.

         

Vegans are still very few in number and pro-active vegans even fewer.  As rather lonely advocates for animals, vegans may feel unsupported, vulnerable and at times depressed by the lack of interest.  But if we get affected too badly by that, we won’t be able to maintain momentum - and that means we aren’t much help to the imprisoned animals.  And it means we’ll have less chance to inspire others, or encourage or inform them.

Animal Rights is not like a contemplative religious order.  It isn’t based on prayer or wishful thinking but on the trialling of ideas.  It starts out as a break-through of old attitudes - helping animals, converting people to vegan food, etc.  But also it’s about making our hard work enjoyable.  If we can do that, we won’t be pulled down by how others think, and then our own motivation won’t then be an issue.

Vegans are up against a huge barrier of resistance.  It’s not easy to be part of such a tiny minority.  What we don’t need is being dragged-down.  What we DO need is solo flight, where exploration takes on a momentum of its own.  Then discovery is its own reward, after which the transitional stage can be completed.