Life is horrible because my whisker munchkins got adopted and now I have to go to Hawaii.
In the last few years, Paul has traveled a lot for work… most notably, Hawaii.
I couldn’t go with him because changes to the structure of my daily life are unacceptable… unless it was my idea; then it must happen immediately, with everyone’s enthusiastic participation.
Paul went to Hawaii three separate times before I was begrudgingly compelled by my own bad-wife-shame entitlement to that which I do not deserve, but have somehow GOTTEN ANYWAY.
Essentially:
I do not want anyone else to have this prize I did not win.
I would hate for some other woman, (smarter than me) to walk off with the man who memorializes my deceasedsoulbabycat’s name in produce.
So… JUST INCASE it’s a bad plan– to leave my husband off on tropical islands, to ponder how his wife is a non-functional human and he deserves a refund?
Just incase.
HERE I AM.
fine print:
there will be no refunds.
BUT I HAD FOUR FLUFFMUNCHKINS.
And Paul was already gone.
This meant I had to do heart-ripping-out-day, alone.
Heart-ripping-out-day is when I take my babies and hand them over to total strangers… then I go home and crawl into despair.
Despair marches me through sterilizing the house; so that I CAN GET MORE DRUGS TO FIX THE HORRIBLE HEART-SHATTERING WITHDRAWAL FROM LOVE.
If you can’t foster, there are still SO MANY ways to help! I wrote a post here about ways you can help your local shelter!
Lots of ways don’t even necessitate you interacting with animals, or having them in your home!
YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
But if you are going to stupid Hawaii, you have to do heart-ripping-out day, and then NOT GET THE DRUGS TO FIX THE FLUFFLOVE-HEARTGAP.
WHY WOULD A HUSBAND DO SOMETHING SO TERRIBLE TO HIS WIFE?
All of my babies come with 327-pages-of-ocd-instructions-masquerading-as-helpful-tips… I write ALL of it.
But the real reason for the 327 pages, is that I need to tell the new family 87,294 times in bold print: here is my name, phone, email, home address… if you ever need ANYTHING, I am here.
If there is EVER a time when you cannot care for this baby… even if it is 20 years from now, ALL you have to do is contact me AND I WILL COME AND GET THEM ANYTIME, ANYWHERE, NO QUESTIONS ASKED.
I feel like this is the only protection I can give my babies… and it’s so miserably inadequate; to send my tiny precious little souls out into the world with only some pages of words.
Writing these letters is indescribable.
These are my flufflesmooch crazypants wigglemuffins.
My wild animals. My hooligans. My love bugs.
My destroyers of all things precariously balanced.
They are my Little Bear, my best-kept secret, and Crown Prince of the Shoulder Monkeys… my Tiny Minya, Destructriss of Fluffy Toys… my Sir Earl Gray— Chancellor of the Tea Party! And Runtle, short for Runtlestiltskin (thank my brother), the babiest of the babies!
Cry. Is not a word that applies.
This is different.
Tears flow out of my face without stopping… it is a tsunami of sadness.
I cry because I cannot be sure that everysingleday they will be entirely covered with kisses from inside their silky little ears, down to the fluffy spots between their tiny toes.
I cry because my Little Bear loves to get right up into your shoulder AS CLOSE AS HE CAN and eat your hair while purring directly into your ear and kneading his tiny baby claws into your face… and I cannot be sure that someone else will UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE.
Yes, you very well MIGHT lose an eye; THAT IS WHY YOU HAVE TO HOLD STILL.
I soaked the front of my sweatshirt because I cannot fix this.
I cried because it is all so futile… because no matter how many kittens I foster… I CANNOT HELP THEM ALL.
I cried because until we see that ALL beings deserve love; this will never be a good world for any kitten, any animal, any baby who is born without the privilege to be seen as valuable.
There will still be row after row of babies in veal crates: the dairy industry.
There will still be baby boy chicks ground up alive: the egg industry.
There will still be baby piglets “thumped,” smashing them on the ground by their hind legs.
We call it dinner.
During this meditation on the essential futility of loving animals in a world that does not; Minya charged in and out, destroying things and terrorizing imaginary spots on the wall— jumping three feet in the air because WALL.
WHY IS.
WALL.
DEATH TO.
WALL.
And I will tell you this:
The family who got Minya? They got EXTRA… and it wasn’t extra cuddles.
I feel like I have cried all the tears for all the animals.
I feel like I have TRIED SO HARD TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
And it has made no difference at all.
It does not just exhaust me.
It makes me feel done with life.
I realize that is unexpected… and I AM OKAY WITH THAT… something is happening in my brain: I’m done NOT being honest about who I am.
Pretending that everything is fine is too exhausting and also really stupid and I am finished.
This is who I am.
I cannot handle any of this.
I am tired of pretending otherwise.
Being broken, alone, is too hard.
Instead, I am going to be broken as loudly as I can… it’s literally ALL I have to offer this world, so its time I quit shying away from it and just get started.
JOIN ME!!!!!!!!
I TOTALLY KNOW HOW TO PARTY!!!
IF YOU LOVE KITTENS…
WHY NOT LOVE BABY COWS TOO?
They come in different colors!
They love their mama!
They are adorable and hilarious!
They are kind.
And gentle.
And we FORCE them to suffer.
Just like humans, cows must be pregnant to produce breastmilk… and just like humans, cows carry their babies for nine months.
On a dairy farm, newborn babies are taken from their mothers immediately… so that humans can drink their mother’s breastmilk.
If the baby is a girl, she becomes a breastmilk factory.
If the baby is a boy, he becomes veal.
They will never see their mother again.
DAIRY = VEAL
WE CAN CHANGE THIS!
All we have to do is OPEN OUR HEART.
THE LIFE YOU SAVE MAY BE YOUR OWN!
Casein, which makes up 87% of the protein in cow’s breastmilk, is the most significant carcinogen we consume… Casein promotes all stages of the cancer process. — Dr. Colin T. Campbell
EVERY SINGLE YEAR, WE LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW EATING ANIMALS = CANCER.
BRAND NEW science now shows us that Bovine Leukemia Virus causes breast cancer… a common virus of cattle globally; for decades it was believed to NOT impact humans… spoiler-alert: whoops!
Bovine Leukemia Virus CAUSES BREAST CANCER.
— National Institutes of Health (OUR GOVERNMENT! not woo-woo treehuggers like myself)Even dairy operations with small herds of fewer than 100 cows tested positive for BLV 83% of the time… there is no incentive for the cattle industry to set up procedures to contain the spread of the virus.
— UC Berkeley (totes woo-woo treehuggers like myself)
do you know how much we spend treating breast cancer?
do you know how much the meat and dairy industry spends on lobbying?
do these numbers matter?
I say yes.
Here is an outtake of a longer video that gives an overview of how the USDA got into the business of selling us a carcinogen.
Have you ever asked yourself:
Why are humans the only animal to consume breastmilk after infancy?
Why are humans the only species in the entire animal kingdom to drink another species’ breastmilk?
Who decided that breastmilk intended to turn a 70 lb newborn calf into a 1,500 lb cow… is good for humans?
Is the answer to all of those questions: because our government got involved in the dairy industry?
OH… WHO CARES!!
We love cheese!
BUT WHY? WHY DO WE LOVE CHEESE SO MUCH?
There’s actually an answer to this!
Cheese is highly-concentrated breastmilk… and condensing and concentrating that milk also concentrates the hormones that make nursing feel good to a baby.
In the human brain, these hormones stimulate the same receptors as heroin and morphine; regardless of whether that breastmilk comes from a human, a cow, a goat, etc.
“Digesting breastmilk creates casomorphins, which attach to the brain’s opiate receptors; causing a calming effect in much the same way heroin and morphine do.”
— Dr. Neal Barnard, professor of medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, D.C., and president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.
Does it matter that the links between dairy consumption and cancer are evidence-based?
Does it matter that science tells us that other species’ breastmilk is bad for us… UNLESS that “science” is conducted by Dannon or funded by the milk-industry?
Rather than try to edit all the science into one paragraph, I’ll send you to read this excellent and thorough article at Mother Jones.
Dr. Willett (Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School) found that men who drank two or more glasses of milk a day were twice as likely to develop advanced prostate cancer as those who drank no milk.
Women who drank two and a half or more glasses of milk a day had a higher fracture risk than their counterparts who drank less than one glass a day.
Studies showed a connection between dairy consumption and breast cancer; researchers theorized that the high levels of hormones in dairy foods—specifically estrogen, progesterone, and an insulin-like compound known as IGF-1—may speed the growth of tumors. — The Scary New Science That Shows Milk Is Bad For You
Hang on! I thought milk = calcium!! Strong bones! HEALTH!!
Right…???
But WHERE did we get that idea?
WHO told us that?
Was it the people who are financially invested in SELLING US MILK?
Is it possible that politics and capitalism dictate the American food system; creating a market that is completely destructive to public health and the environment; and yet embraced because societal norms tell us that WE LOVE CHEESE! (AND BACON!)
Is it possible… THAT WE ARE NOT COWS??
Is it possible that what we ate to survive winter in Kansas in 1823, is the dietary equivalent of living in a cave without wifi? I mean, survival is awesome! But why are we still making choices to feed ourselves like we are only going to live to be 42?
Is that a biological development? A cultural development? Or a development based on the PROFITABLY OF DAIRY CORPORATIONS?
Lobbying by the $50 billion dairy industry clouds policy on nutrition.
— Food Politics, Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition at New York University.
Does it matter that our own wellbeing, the health of our loved ones, and the health of the planet that our children will inherit… are MOST IMPACTED BY HOW WE FEED OURSELVES.
Does it matter that the intensive farming of animals is the single biggest cause of climate change?
Not cars
Not overpopulation
Not countries with no environmental regulations
WHAT WE EAT.
Does it matter that the way we feed ourselves requires that children in underprivileged countries go hungry?
82% of starving children live in countries where food is fed to animals, and the animals are eaten by western countries. — Dr.
Does it matter that our planet’s resources are finite and that we NEED THEM TO SURVIVE… and yet allow meat and dairy industries to exploit, pollute, and destroy the planet we live on!
Does it matter that animal agriculture is the leading cause of rainforest destruction… 70% of former forests in the Amazon have been turned over to grazing. — United Nations, FAO
Does it matter that while California experienced a drought of alarming proportions… the industry that exports CA-grown alfalfa to China’s growing dairy industry was exempt from water regulations? Video below is from National Geographic.
Does it matter that animal agriculture is the leading cause of ocean dead zones? (source: our own epa!)
Does it matter that 80% of antibiotics used in the United States are for livestock? (FDA pdf)
Does it matter that a food system that uses SO MUCH ANTIBIOTIC has huge repercussions for human health?
Does it matter that everything is connected?
I think so! I think there is nothing that matters MORE!
I think it is terrifying that our government values profit and lobbyists over human health and the PLANET WE ALL NEED TO LIVE ON… and it makes me MAD.
MAD. MAD. MAD
If it makes you mad too, go forth and make other people mad!
If you haven’t seen Forks Over Knives, start there! Then watch Cowspiracy… (both of these are on Netflix)… Read all of the ALARMING (and well documented) facts page on the Cowspiracy website.
Read The China Study: learn about the factory-farming industry’s attempts to brainwash everyone in America into thinking they will die at any moment from a protein deficiency! Like this pitiful weakling: USA’s Olympian record-holding weightlifter who is vegan… Farris set an American weightlifting record by lifting 800 pounds at the 2016 Olympic Trials… SAD!
Is it possible that our collective insanity surrounding the cultural obsession with PROTEIN… is BAD FOR US? Do any of those guys slamming down shakes, bars, supplements even know that TOO MUCH PROTEIN IS BAD or did Men’s Fitness magazine fail to mention that because their job is to sell magazines and those magazines are funding by the advertising dollars from protein supplement manufacturers?
Some individuals, especially teen boys and adult men, also need to reduce overall intake of protein foods by decreasing intakes of meats, poultry, and eggs.
Overall, our human and animal studies indicate that a low protein diet is likely to be useful for the prevention of cancer, overall mortality, and possibly diabetes. — health.gov/dietaryguidelines
Did you know that one of the mysteries of human breast milk is why the protein content is so low?
Did you know that cows’ milk has 35 grams of protein per liter, while human breast milk has only 9 grams of protein per liter?
Did you know that the ratio of whey and casein proteins in human breast milk range from 80/20 – 60/40 (as breast milk progresses from colostrum to mature milk,) whereas cow milk is completely opposite at a 20/80 ratio.
The dairy industry has long promoted the myth that milk and milk products promote increased bone health—but the opposite is true. The evidence is now abundantly convincing that higher consumption of dairy is associated with higher rates of bone fracture and osteoporosis, according to Yale and Harvard University research groups.
— Dr. Walter C. Willett, M.D., Dr. P.H., is Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Does it matter that just like humans, dairy cows carry their babies for nine months?
Does it matter that those babies are taken from their mothers immediately?
Does it matter that the dairy industry IS the veal industry?
Does it matter that the mother cow will cry for her baby loudly enough to alarm neighbors enough to call the police?
Does it matter that after her body is worn out, after being forced to have child after child, and never getting to nurse or raise any of them… she will be sent to slaughter?
It matters to me.
I believe that babies belong with their mothers. I believe that forcing an animal to birth baby after baby… only to have those babies taken from her so that the dairy industry can sell us cancer in the form of cheese and ice cream is a grotesque mockery of nature and motherhood and our own humanity.
And I have one more question:
If we can live healthier,
MORE COMPASSIONATE lives
without dairy…
WHY WOULDN’T WE?
THIS POST IS DEDICATED TO THE FORGOTTEN MOTHERS… SPECIFICALLY, THIS ONE.
She arrived at the slaughterhouse, unable to walk off the truck.
Please read her story.
This mother spent her life pregnant, but she never knew any of her children. Her sons became veal. Her daughters suffered her same fate so that humans could harvest her breastmilk.
When her production dwindled with age, she was sent to slaughter. She was injured in transport, and wasn’t able to walk off the truck… the slaughterhouse workers used their electric prods in her ear to try to get her out of the truck, then beat and kicked her in the face, ribs, and back, but still she didn’t move.
They tied a rope around her neck, tied the other end to a post in the ground, and drove the truck away. She was dragged along the floor of the truck and fell to the ground, shattering her legs and pelvis.
She remained like that from 8am until 7:30pm. For the first 3hours, she lay in the hot sun crying. When she urinated or defecated, she used her front legs to drag herself along the gravel roadway to a clean spot. She tried to crawl to a shaded area but couldn’t move far enough.
The employees didn’t allow her any water; the only water she received was given to her by Jess Pierce, a local animal lover who had been contacted by a woman who witnessed the incident. After receiving no cooperation from stockyard workers, she called the Kenton County Police. A police officer arrived but was instructed to do nothing.
In the afternoon, the slaughterhouse manager informed Jess that he had permission from the insurance company to kill the cow but wouldn’t do it until Jessie left. Although doubtful that he would keep his word, Jess left at 3pm. She returned at 4:30pm and found the stockyard deserted. Three dogs were attacking the cow, who was still alive. She had suffered a number of bite wounds, and her water had been removed.
Jess contacted the police again. 4 officers arrived at 5:30pm, and a State trooper wanted to shoot the cow but was told that a vet should kill her. The 2 veterinarians at the facility would not euthanize her, claiming that in order to preserve the value of the meat, she could not be destroyed.
The butcher arrived at 7:30 p.m. and shot the cow. Her body was purchased for $307.50.
We can change this.
All we need is love.
❤️🐾💕🌱🐯🐒
VEB
February 28, 2018 @ 5:46 pm
There is one thing that vegans tend to overlook and that is not everyone thrives on a vegan diet. I became a vegan because I hated the “production” of animals. I maintained the lifestyle for three years. Unfortunately, I’m also a Celiac sensitive to most grains (even those without gluten) and legumes so I was severely restricted from much of the vegan food choices.
No matter how I tried to “dink” with the vegan diet or how much food I ate, I kept losing weight until I was down to 92 lbs. My hair began falling out in clumps and I hardly had energy to get through a day. I consulted all the nutritional information, followed all the suggestions put forth by the Forks Over Knives community, consulted a nutritionist, took supplements, and still continued to slowly decline. After having a day when all I could think about was eating a piece of meat, I realized the diet had become a religion and identity for me rather than a healthy lifestyle. My body was telling me what it needed and it wasn’t another plant.
Do I wish veganism had worked for me? Sure I do, but it simply didn’t no matter how hard I tried. As many passionate vegans who have had to returned to eating meat due to declining health…some who have built their brands and fame on being vegan… it simply doesn’t work for everyone. (My friend was certified by T. Colin Campbell’s Plant-Based Nutrition program at Cornell. It was her brand and business. She and her family eventually had to reintroduce animal protein back into their diets due to declining health.) Maybe plant protein isn’t metabolized the same and through animal sources? Maybe there are macronutrients only available through meat? Maybe genetics? I don’t know. I do know I couldn’t survive any longer eating this way.
Fortunately there are ethical ways to get meat/fish/seafood/eggs other than from feedlots and factory farms. I buy local and know the actual farmers. A year later my weight is finally back to normal, my hair grew back, the color came back to my face, my energy levels are so back, and I only take one supplement (Vitamin D3). If it works for you, I am delighted. But please think before shaming those who simply cannot maintain their health on this lifestyle no matter how much we wish otherwise.
February 28, 2018 @ 5:53 pm
I care too. Keep on keeping on, VEB. You are my kind of hero.
February 28, 2018 @ 6:59 pm
Thank you, Victoria. I have followed a plant based diet (vegan) for four months now. I am so happy and relieved to have made the change in my diet. Your posts have contributed to releasing the switch within me that allowed me to make this change. So much pressure is placed upon us to remain carnivore. I thank you and everyone else who make it easier for those of us who wish to break through the negativity.
February 28, 2018 @ 7:40 pm
You lost me somewhere between complaining about moving to Hawaii and FLUFFMUNCHKINS…….
February 28, 2018 @ 7:49 pm
This is just heartbreaking. Keep banging your drum, VEB.
February 28, 2018 @ 8:07 pm
Thank you!
February 28, 2018 @ 8:31 pm
This post was exhausting to read, im sure it was more so to write. I agree with you, our love affair with meat and the way we get it is truly vile. I am however, a meat eater that believes in eating meat that has been ethically raised and ethically slaughtered. Its ok to eat meat, its not ok to torture animals or force them to live in substandard conditions for any reason — this absolutely is a grave problem facing our society today. Also, its ok to be broken, and to be sad that you cant fix everything. I feel the same way about gun culture and all the needless horrible deaths of innocents. I encourage you to relax in hawaii, be in the moment, try not to let the world crush you (its my number one priority everyday, it doesnt always happen). Love to you.
February 28, 2018 @ 9:51 pm
How can slaughter be ethical? You are murdering and animal!
February 28, 2018 @ 8:31 pm
Lord, please help us……
February 28, 2018 @ 9:24 pm
I’d really like practical advice on how to diminish our meat intake. But meat + veg + starch is beautifully simple & easy to do. How do I replace the meat with something veg but “meaty” and hearty enough to be the main course? We aren’t a pasta family at all. I’ve really struggled in going meatless even one day a week (usually breakfast) when I’d really like to go meatless 3-4 times a week. If any of VEB’s readers have any suggestions, I’d be very happy to read them.
March 15, 2018 @ 2:07 pm
Check out avantgardevegan on youtube. EASY and yummy!
February 28, 2018 @ 9:38 pm
Thank you for putting this information out there. What they do to those cows is horrific. I don’t eat beef or pork or drink milk and very little cheese but now will cut that out for good, too. BTW Kansas wasn’t open to settlers until the mid 1850s.
March 1, 2018 @ 2:49 am
Bless you, Victoria Elizabeth Barnes. I don’t know if your foster sweethearts worked their magic on you and not only was it suddenly clear that, in all the ways that matter, a kitten is a cow, or whether loving them suddenly made it impossible to be politically silent about things so monstrously important….whatever it was, I am filled with gratitude. I cried. We, my three daughters and I, are all cheering for you. You Did Good, deciding you cannot be silent. No matter what anyone says.
And I know it wasn’t a new post, just new to me, and you have recovered from giving up your sweeties to other homes, but you will do it again. And I wanted to tell you, because you wondered so heartbrokenly if you had made any difference at all, that there is no doubt whatsoever in my mind: YES. Real differences don’t have to be measured in buildings named after you or magazine articles or bank accounts or cars or even , even…number of animals snatched from the jaws of death. A difference can be someone small who because of you grows up with confidence and a sense of being loved bottomlessly every day, and thus will forever more walk cheerfully in the world. A difference can also be giving someone who has never known anything good in a whole lifetime the feeling that for a short period, not every human is bad, and that they can relax their heart and lean into you and Not Fear. A difference is every moment of love you give an animal. How to measure that? No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted, said Aesop. Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it isn’t there.
Keep Fighting the Good Fight, VEB.
March 1, 2018 @ 8:05 am
Victoria, Your words on your baby kittens and how you understand and adore the special sweetness of each one really touched me. I know you have instilled in their new families that they are beyond special and need to have the gentlest, kindest and most loving care for their whole lives. You did good. In fact you did exactly what those little balls of fluff needed. Hopefully you will get another “set” to nuture and love.
And I read with sadness the long and detailed words on the meat and dairy industry. I have a lot to think about.
I admire your honesty and the way you that so clearly into words. I hope you find some solace in know you ARE the best kitty Mom in the world
March 1, 2018 @ 8:55 am
Victoria-You are such a good speaker and advocate. You should send your information over and over to Congress and anyone else that could stop this. The public needs to know. I’d never heard of all this and I’m 65! Thank you for this information. Wish I could share on social media.
March 1, 2018 @ 9:50 am
I adopted a tiny girl kitty about five years ago. She is special needs- has chronic FHV-1. I’ve often thought about her original owners, and wished I could write to them. Lili is so sweet and spoiled that I know they had to have loved her so much. I wish I could tell them that she’s well-loved and continues to be spoiled rotten.
March 1, 2018 @ 10:23 am
I swear to you…I am going vegan!!! You made a difference!
March 1, 2018 @ 10:53 am
Please delete me from your what ever the hell this has become. Seriously. And as I wait for the confirmation, I shall wrap myself in my REINDEER HIDE and maybe I will even put on my BABY SEAL mittens. And snuggle with my dogs.
Seeing what your kitchen turns out like is not worth it. And remember, you pumped Elvis full of toxic chemicals to prolong his life you your PLEASURE.
Kat
March 1, 2018 @ 2:51 pm
“Delete” yourself by simply *unsubscribing*. Just like you chose to subscribe – you can unsubscribe.
Less dramatic, but then you won’t have to “wait for your confirmation”.
March 1, 2018 @ 8:56 pm
Yes, I have to say good bye also. This is not what I signed up for and you are way over the top.
March 1, 2018 @ 11:25 am
I agree with everything you say and here comes the but-I don’t like meat,when I do take a bite of meat the thought that I am chewing the flesh of an animal is unappetizing and I have to stop. We humans seem to divide into either a wolf mentality or a more evolved creature that must engage in critical thinking.
The wolves will have slave labor,huge wealth sucking war machines,the right to own machine guns at the expense of child slaughter and government for greed by greed and without integrity,honor ,or noble purpose.
money(note the stock market) is false-a piece of paper that never invented ,created, built, devised etc. It represents,poorly,the labor of us all- but is held in its trillions by the scheming self aggrandisement of those who will have the last coin on the table or die trying. We humans have been extant for millennia and seem doomed to a constant state of war that fights for peace?-love v war,mindless hatreds ,and generations that yearn for giving peace a chance. There are billions of children in the world abused and brutalized in every way that food animals are and we ignore their plight or feel baffled and impotent to change it. There are few products that we buy today that are not infused with human suffering and yet we accept it as intractable. The only way I can hope for change is to strive for better leaders, kinder laws.
We are a worthy species,we can shine in this Universe on this magnificently beautiful World but we must take action in our millions. We the People can prevail-Our kindness must overwhelm the brutality of the few who now hold undeserved power. It is the single step on the thousand mile journey but without a collective effort what the destiny of our children? Grim…..or Grand? Don’t let it break you Victoria you are the voice crying in the wilderness but we are the people who hear you and bring others to hear you and that must make you strong enough to persevere. Thank you and enjoy the sunshine of Hawaii and be at Peace.
March 1, 2018 @ 12:18 pm
You make a difference. In the fluffermonsters you foster and because of your very valuable words, I’m trying to go vegan.
Others who made a difference in my feed this morning:
https://www.boredpanda.com/faith-in-humanity-restored-wholesome-happy-random-acts-of-kindness/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=AwkwardFamily
March 1, 2018 @ 4:00 pm
I wish I could just give you a giant hug!!! I feel like you are the sister I wouand choose!!! I loved your posts about the house and stuff but I see that you have grown and that growing has opened your eyes to these issues in a way that just does not allow for you to stay silent. And not should you!!! Also I just recently did a cleanse and discovered I had parasites. Revolting!! And that the CDC estimates that 70 to 80. % of Americans do as well. Mostly from eating meat or fish. Cooking kills the live worms or parasites but not the eggs already laid in the meat, soooo eating meat and sugar and refined foods sets you up for parasitic infection which then causes inflammation which leads to cancer and other illnesses. Hence I have gone back to a vegetarian diet and without even trying lost weight. Also we should be eating to live, mot living to eat. I think many people have forgotten this concept. Hawaii is a wonderful place, my honey and I spent our honeymoon there and we went back 5 years ago with our daughter for a family reunion. Be in the moment and enjoy the beauty of the place and celebrate your relationship. Bon Voyage,
March 1, 2018 @ 8:16 pm
Aloha Victoria! I hope you spend many moments enjoying Hawaii. The happiest moments of my life were spent on Oahu and Kauai. It is a wonderful place to call home, and a great place for those who don’t to spend time soaking in aloha and trade winds, both which are shared from the islands and island people with you. It will be soothing to your spirit to let Hawaii minister to your spirit for sure.
Since this is a public comment on a public post, I hope it comes across as intended. I comment frequently here on your blog while giggling about the latest Craig’s List find, stammering in awe and wonder at how you can rally your sweet husband to bring things up a ladder to the roof, through the window and in to the house, and crying honest, sad tears because saying good-bye to Elvis hurt. You have naturally grown in to a blogger-friend-in-my-inbox.
I usually love the community you have around comments. Remarks are usually positive and respectful.
Reading this post you made was hard, and I am like minded.
A vegan since I was 12…I now have children in high school and college so it’s been my life for a long time. I am vegan in a family that is not, but tries new dishes I make, ideas I share, volunteering for things along with me in their time. I find that they take ownership in these natural evolving steps and it becomes authentic. I practice much of what you preach.
This was still very difficult to read.
Reading the comments here was harder, but probably not for reasons you may think.
Some of the remarks to you have been pretty harsh, but what I like about you is the fact you don’t just wear your big girl pants, you dance in them. I am fairly certain you knew this could be a hot topic and thought “Come what may, I am putting my thoughts out there and let the chips fall where they may.” I know you are creative and tough along with being thoughtful.
So the remarks people write regarding this post are expected, and I think you want the dialogue. Communication eventually will bring understanding. Maybe not full agreement, but it will begin the conversation.
I think it must be hard for many people to see and hear a lot of what you shared; again it was a brutal contrast seeing abused animals towards the middle and end of the post to soft sweet kitties of the start. I think the shock they felt, coupled with angle that if you eat meat and drink milk you share responsibility for this, fed in to the comments directed at you that weren’t like minded. It is a hard, terrible thing to have given to you in your inbox when you wake up on a Wednesday morning (the real or perceived fault of horrible animal mistreatment). I practice living without eating meat and drinking milk and it was a very difficult and depressing moment to share with you.
But you have the right to post it.
As subscribers and followers and folks that love and enjoy you, we have a right to post a response. For agreement or disagreement, for questions and even for struggling through trying to understand.
As subscribers invested in this blog, we have had an established history of being able to respond and not be bullied or shut down by others. As hard as comments may be to read against your stance, I think it has been all the more difficult to see such bitter things that follow in replies. In both directions.
I realize that as I write this to post I may not have the “Atta Girl” comments following me. But still I feel this should be said. We need to treat animals with kindness. We need to treat humans with kindness.
I hope once you have all the positive vibes from Hawaii filling your heart and spirit that you will come back to the blog and share an encouraging word and re-establish your community here as welcoming, upbeat and filled with hope wether it be for furry kittens, better animal practices, or induction ranges in any colour other than black.
With love and aloha to you