How Awakening Led me to Advocating Veganism

By Published On: 17 February 2014Last Updated: 17 January 2017

Being a true friend to all species, and not just humans, is what the vegan walk is all about.

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How Awakening Led me to Advocating Veganism

By Linden-Mackey, Guest Contributor

I have always been more of a seeker than a finder, a searcher than a settler – always looking for a purpose bigger than myself to stand up for, something crucial and urgent and compassionate – yet with a practical application that could change the world. Nothing is more elemental and critical than what we put into our bodies for nourishment and sustenance – if we are fortunate, three times a day, every day of our lives. Veganism offers the most natural, perfect, and unassailable purpose.

I came to this lifestyle originally for health purposes. Randomly picking up a somewhat obsolete yet classic in its day book, Fit for Life, I was startled and convicted by obvious truths that I had never before considered: Why are humans the only species never to be weaned, and beyond that, to drink milk from a species different than our own? Why in the world do we feel it necessary to eat animal flesh for strength and health when it is clear from elephants, oxen and whales that all vital ingredients for life can be found in plants?

I was a captive from that point on, and read as widely and deeply as my time allowed (Animal Liberation; Eternal Treblinka; Eating Animals). I was unable to turn my head and heart away from how our food system is ball and chained to cruelty and exploitation – and that all who partake in its products are likewise complicit.

I made the decision to embrace a vegan lifestyle just over a year ago, and so I am quite the young traveler on this road. I daily encounter my choice and its ramifications – whether it is speaking up at business dinners about why I’m eating only the sides of spinach and carrots, or slowly bringing my husband and two young-adult sons along (a mission in and of itself, although all are willing to various degrees). Living in a transitioning household is a big challenge – and I fully capitalize on my family’s laziness around cooking! (The day my eldest announced that he loves fried tofu was ground-breaking.)

For the moment I need to keep my day job in risk management, a necessity to keep my family financially afloat, but the opportunity to write for YDV offers me the springboard to effect change in the world, which is exciting and humbling all at once.

Advocating veganism through writing is how I can best make a difference – books have always defined who I am and writing is how I understand the world. My tattered childhood copy of Charlotte’s Web has been a lifelong talisman – the spider Charlotte one of my earliest heroes and to whom I still aspire:

She was in a class by herself. It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both.

Being a true friend to all species, and not just humans, is what the vegan walk is all about.

Photo credit: Linden Mackey

12 Comments

  1. Linden February 22, 2014 at 1:53 pm - Reply

    Stacey,

    Your quiet, personal, and careful trying-it-on-for-size is great. One of the best pieces of advice I read when first considering becoming vegan was to not make so many changes all at once that it seemed just too difficult — we are reversing decades of eating patterns and the many good familial and tribal memories made around food. It is a difficult thing to go against the majority no matter what — so you have to approach it in the way that makes sense to you and just keep following that path. Linden

  2. Stacey February 21, 2014 at 11:09 am - Reply

    Ok. So beginning yesterday I am attempting a no-birds, no-mammals eating style. Quietly and personally I will be trying this on for size.

  3. Linden February 20, 2014 at 11:29 am - Reply

    Thanks to everyone for checking out this great website! It’s very exciting to be part of this mission — and it’s encouraging from the comments that our efforts to bring this message do make a difference. If people begin by eliminating even just one animal or animal-based product from their diet, that’s a first step into consciousness and being aware of how what we do on a daily basis matters.

  4. Rick Hirsch February 20, 2014 at 10:21 am - Reply

    Well written ! Congratulations lady.

  5. Jess McCurdy February 19, 2014 at 7:49 pm - Reply

    Congratulations, Linden! I am so happy for you. Thank you for allowing me to be part of your journey.

  6. cathy beckett February 19, 2014 at 6:19 pm - Reply

    Linden, my my granddaughter, Julia, converted me just recently. I’ve been reading the books that you mentioned hungry for change, Food Matters,. You go out there girl, and change the world. I’m so proud of you.

  7. Mary February 19, 2014 at 1:47 pm - Reply

    .I’m so happy to read your work.You’ve helped start me on a transition of my own with animal products.

    Keep up the good work.

  8. Stacey Bie February 19, 2014 at 11:27 am - Reply

    Proud your my friend L.

  9. Linden February 19, 2014 at 8:52 am - Reply

    Kari — right, I know. And same with all the other farm animals in the barnyard — even Templeton, the rat! I actually think that many young children don’t feel comfortable eating the same animals who show up in their nursery rhymes, books, and for some, their countryside — but if the parents aren’t vegan/vegetarian themselves, they slowly over time pressure the kid into eating meat because it’s ‘necessary’.

  10. Linden February 19, 2014 at 8:39 am - Reply

    Thanks, Amy! Beginning this new adventure with YDV is a great way to start the year!

  11. Amy February 17, 2014 at 9:34 pm - Reply

    I hope it’s been a wonderful year for you! I’m jealous you live close(r) to Farm Sanctuary–awesome.

  12. Kari February 17, 2014 at 1:48 pm - Reply

    I don’t know of one kid that was rooting for Wilbur to go the slaughterhouse. Where does that feeling go? How does it disappear?

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HELLO! I'm KD Angle-Traegner.

Writer, activist, and founder of Four Urban Paws Sanctuary. I’m on a mission to help people live a vegan life. Read more about KD…

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