idle musings

I was going to write a post about 2008, how horrible it was and how I’m hoping that this year will be better.

Before I did so, I was going through my inbox and I decided to finally read the Animal Advocates Christmas newsletter. It’s all ‘happy endings’ but the animals who end up with AA do not have happy beginnings. I’m sitting here with tears streaming down my face, thinking about all the terrible things that people do to animals, and I realize that no matter what happened to me in 2008 to make it a year worth forgetting, it still was not, and never can be, that bad.

There was a quote at the bottom of the page: “We must not refuse to see with our eyes what they must endure with their bodies.” — Gretchen Wyler

I donate monthly, but I do not read about the work that they do. I find it so terribly hard to do so, because it stays with me, eating at my soul. And yet, to turn a blind eye and pretend it does not exist, to make my own existence a little bit less painful, seems like a cowardly way to live.

So. My resolution, for 2009, and going forward always, is to look for ways to do more. Donate more time and more money. Volunteer. Stop eating factory farmed meat altogether. Pay more attention.

Do I care enough for my convictions to live them every day? Or am I fraud who pretends to believe one thing but shows my true colours by acting differently?

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