Interrupted

My Life Thus Far
2006-08-21 04:58:50 (UTC)

Pledge 2B Veg!

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"In the case of the death of a person who has been
engaging in nonvirtuous practices, the consciousness would
start dissolving from the upper part of the body and
withdraw within the heart. In the case of a person who has
performed virtuous activities, the dissolution of the heat
starts from the lower part of the body and finally
withdraws at the heart. In both cases the transference of
consciousness would take place at the center."

I made a mistake this morning and I'm not entirely sure
how it happened, but I DO NOT regret it in the least, so
maybe it wasn't a mistake? Okay, I'll start at the
beginning. I've been entertaining the idea of becoming a
vegetarian (mostly because I can't digest meat very well,
but also to help me lose some more of this extra weight),
so I decided to do a little research on it, before I
jumped into it all willy-nilly. I came across the PETA
website (totally by accident, I swear) and clicked on a
video clip that CHANGED MY LIFE. Seriously. I watched 40
cows being slaughtered. Actually, I only made it through
about 10, but you get my drift. It was horrible. First
they put the cow in this round contraption that turns it
upside down and extends it's neck. One guy washes the
cow's neck with a hose, then another man takes a machete
and slices it's neck open. A third guy pulls the cow's
throat out of it's neck and then it's released out of the
machine. The cow is supposed to die quickly, but most of
them didn't. They got up, thrashed around, bleeding all
over the place, suffocating because their throat was
slashed and dangling outside their bodies. Once they did
finally fall down, another guy put a shackle on their back
hoof and lifted them up in the air with a hoist, so they
could bleed out. Keep in mind, the cow is still conscious
while this is happening. They wasted no time moving on to
the next cow, slaughtering them so quickly the guy with
the hoist couldn't keep up and dying cows were piling up
around him. It was sickening. I also saw pictures of
slaughtered chickens. They have their throat cut, then get
dunked in boiling water (while still alive) to remove
their feathers. Pigs die like the cows do. I saw all I
needed to. I don't plan on becoming a card carrying PETA
member or anything drastic like that, but the decision to
go veg got real easy after that research was finished. I
signed up for PETA's "Pledge 2B Veg", which basically is a
promise to eat a vegetarian diet for 30 days (which will
hopefully turn into a lifetime) to protest the unethical
treatment of animals. So, tomorrow I start. I couldn't
count today, because I had leftover pizza with Canadian
bacon on it for breakfast, but the rest of the day has
been meat-free AND low-calorie, which I'm pleased about! I
talked to Snookums about it, he told Dan and Helena about
it and now they all think I'm insane, but that's okay. I
feel really good about my decision. For once, it isn't
something based on my own whimsical fancy or selfish needs
and desires. I'm doing a good thing for the planet! I'm
only one person, me eating no meat (especially since I
never ate much to begin with) isn't that significant of a
blow to the meat industry, but in a mushy, sentimental
kind of way, I feel good about doing this. Not to mention
it ties in nicely with my Buddhist studies.

I made today a good day. I'm not sure what gave me the
strength to drag my sorry ass out of the state of
perpetual depression that is my usual weekend (maybe it
was the veg pledge thing), but I did it. My morning
started out much like yesterday morning and I knew that if
I didn't do something about it, I'd waste away another day
of my life, feeling down and sinking further into my
sorrow. So, I forced myself to shower, put on my bathing
suit and after Kiki's nap, I took the girls swimming! We
went to Horseshoe lake and had a really great time. Annie
played in the sand and swam with the other little girls
there, Kiki played in her pen with her toys, swam a little
and napped in the shade. I, of course basked in the sun
like a walrus on a rock. I didn't burn, though. I
slathered myself down in Hawaiian Tropics tanning oil
(which has a teeny bit of sunblock in it) and that was
enough to keep me from burning. The sun wasn't as intense
as it could have been, because we didn't go until later in
the afternoon.

I'm pleasantly tired now and ready to retire. I need to
shower, so I can get the sand and tanning oil off of me,
then I'll paint my finger and toe nails before I go to
bed. I hate chipped nail polish, no matter how sleepy I
may be! Ciao!




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