Before we begin, a content warning: This blog post contains potentially upsetting discussion of the treatment of animals, and mental health issues that may be troubling to some.
Happy Veganuary!
If there was ever a month to try out veganism in terms of diet and lifestyle, January is it (and I believe every month is it).
Veganuary is a movement that encourages and inspires people to try out the vegan lifestyle for the month of January, and hopefully beyond! Find out more here > Veganuary.
Lately at times I’ve been feeling a sense of deep anxiety and depression. It wasn’t really about anything specific or the usual suspects that typically cause these issues. Diving deeper I discovered something interesting that I didn’t even know was a thing.
Eco-anxiety
Also called climate anxiety, eco-anxiety is basically distress or worry related to our changing climate, especially when natural disasters due to climate change are broadcast on the news. It varies in severity from person to person and can range from being a lingering concern in the background, to fully impacting someone’s daily life. It can cause not only anxiety, but also anger, depression, hopelessness, dread, and other challenging emotions. Eco-anxiety is particularly prevalent among young people.
For more information about eco-anxiety and climate related distress (too much to go into for the purpose of this article, but keep an eye out for a dedicated post in the future!), the following resources can be helpful:
- How to fight climate anxiety video (content may be troubling to HSPs)
- Climate Council article
- Reach Out article
- Earth.org article
- A quick online search about eco-anxiety, including articles and videos, and/or seeking professional help can be immensely beneficial if you’re struggling with these or any other difficult feelings.
A card from ‘Wild Wisdom of the Faery Oracle’ by Lucy Cavendish, with artwork by Selina Fenech. No copyright infringement intended.
In terms of my feelings of depression, that was and still is grief. It’s grief about how a lot of people are treating nature and animals, and the losses we and our planet have sustained because of this. The card above has been coming up a lot in my oracle and tarot readings lately. It summarises how I feel pretty well in a picture: I’ve been crying a lot for animals, and crying a lot for nature.
Back to Veganuary
So, back to the topic of today’s blog post, Veganuary and the animals.
How was that discussion of climate anxiety and deep sadness about the planet and the animals relevant to Veganuary?
The reasons people sign up for and participate in Veganuary and join the vegan movement can usually be split into four categories: health, animals, environment, and other.
These feelings about the climate and animals that I’ve experienced for some time left me feeling a deep despair to incapacitating and ineffective levels. But from doing some searching online, I found that the general consensus with these feelings is to focus on what I can do, not what I can’t. To be solution-focused rather than problem-oriented.
And so late in 2021 it began in earnest, my search for solutions that could save the animals and save the planet. I was particularly inspired by Jane Goodall’s work and Earthling Ed’s discussions, and from there found a massive movement of people of all ages from all over the world who cared about animals and the situation of our planet as much as I did. I saw the work that others were doing with their platforms and the ways that each person brought their unique personalities and abilities to the (plant-based) table.
I thought, I may not be able to rescue animals, put an end to the way we as a collective treat animals, or do anything massive to help the animals, but not eating them or products that come from their exploitation was a good place to start.
I went mostly vegan in December of 2021, and soon heard about Veganuary coming up and got curious. With the individuals mentioned above and from my research, I realised how much of an impact animal agriculture has on our planet, and how going vegan not only helps the animals, but helps the planet too. And that is something I could totally get behind.
What veganism means to me
What being a (mostly) vegan means to me is not partaking in anything that causes suffering, death or exploitation of animals. It’s a lifestyle, not just a diet (the difference between veganism and plant-based in a nutshell is that veganism embodies a lifestyle whereas plant-based is how one chooses to eat).
I not only swap out dead animal body parts in favour of tofu and a variety of protein-rich veggies and other foods, or stolen animal milk in favour of plant milks, but also consider more broadly the impact of using leather, wool, or silk in my clothing choices, and choose not to partake in entertainment that exploits animals, or any practice that commodifies animals.
I’ve rethought my knitting and spinning wheel practices, and instead of seeing sheep wool as something to take from them as we please and use as we like because it’s “more sustainable”, I’m seeing it in a new light and using different materials that don’t come from these beautiful woolly beings. Seeing on our Australian roads big trucks with sheep crammed into them with no room to move, I don’t want to be part of that. Seeing a sheep being shorn with such unnecessary aggressiveness with many injuries sustained is not something I want to be part of. Seeing lambs born in winter in freezing cold temperatures where a lot of them don’t make it is not what I want to be part of. Seeing lambs with their mothers, sheep freely grazing and being shorn gently when necessary for their welfare and comfort, that’s what I want to be part of.
Calves being taken away and separated from their mothers and the grief that must come with that is not something I want to be part of. Stealing a mother’s milk that’s not mine is not something I want to be part of. Brutal and careless slaughtering practices and suffering is not something I want to be part of. I want to see calves feeling safe enough to frolic around with their friends under the watchful eyes of their calm mothers.
2019 after the bushfires had burned their grazing field, pregnant and mother cows (with babies resting happily) grazing safely on hay.
I don’t want to be part of male chicks being put into mincers alive. Or exploiting a hen’s reproductive system. I don’t want to be part of the appalling living conditions on chicken farms. What I want to see is chickens allowed to be chickens, with all their colourful personalities, truly free range.
I want to see cute little piglets and pigs free. I want to see turkeys gobbling away at Christmas time as cherished family members. I want to see all animals free, cared for, loved, respected, and given the freedom to live out their lives as they like.
I’ll likely never see this in my lifetime, but I’m hoping for the day when farmers no longer rely on animal exploitation to meet their financial needs and instead farm plants; when all factory farms are turned into sanctuaries; and when we recognise that animals are not to be used as we please and treated with complete disrespect, but recognised as the beautiful sentient individual beings that they are that share the planet with us. I hope there comes a day and time when we learn to treat animals and our planet with the respect deserved. I’d like to leave future generations better off, so I’ve started by embracing veganism.
If you replace the word ‘vegan’ with ‘kind to animals’, that’s the pinnacle of veganism. To me, veganism is simply being kind to animals and choosing to live a compassionate lifestyle that doesn’t cause an animal to suffer for it.
There may be backlash from people at any stage of your vegan journey (I feel like I’ve heard it all, from plants have feelings to what about our Aussie farmers – for more on that, stay tuned, in the meantime, Earthling Ed has some excellent discussions), but that’s to be expected. You’re challenging their beliefs and concepts just by doing something differently. You’re stirring something in them. That’s their stuff to deal with. You just focus on being kind to the animals and know that you’re doing good in the world by not partaking in the death or exploitation of animals.
To me, veganism is worth any backlash or judgement or even hate I could ever experience. I do this for the animals and for our beautiful planet. Roll on Veganuary!
Final Thoughts
If you feel deeply for animals and our planet but you’re not sure where to start, give Veganuary a crack and get informed! The animals and planet will be better off for it.
Much love from me,
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