Imagination Polishing The Mirror

1970:

For those with imagination (who are also attracted to ‘isms’) vegan-ism isn’t a bad ‘ism’ to have. But we have to face both what is tempting and what is daunting about it. It’s no good pretending that it’s a bed of roses. There’s a perception out there of veganism, that it’s a mixture of pleasure and non-pleasure.

Most of us don’t ‘do’ unpleasant, not readily anyway. We may be motivated by an ideal, but not that motivated. There are plenty of isms today and most of them involve some self-punishment as a way to being an all-purpose cleanser. But this ‘ism’ has some saving graces.

The main thing about veganism is that there’s a certain consistency and stability in it. It’s ultimately optimistic and it gives us some achievable hope. So, why would we walk away from it? We find this idea, we find it very alive, enough to let it be tested. And once found to work for us, it becomes a part of us. And then we can’t help showing it off, not to boast about it but to attempt to unlock people’s misperceptions of it.

In the ‘doing’ and the ‘showing’, what begins to shine from our simple, daily routines, starts to show. It’s noticed because it shines. It shines in the way we speak and how we start to live and think. Others may not appear to notice, because it contrasts with the way they think and live their lives, but it is noticed nevertheless.