Denial is a self-inflicted prison. When we intentionally reject access to truth, we choose to relinquish our power to those who feed us lies. Critical thinking is about making conscious choices. We cannot be empowered to make choices when we are ignorant to relevant information impacting those choices. Absent a scrupulous and thorough exploration of fact, we are merely slaves to popular opinion and fallacies, powerless to control our own lives.
Perhaps the truth is not something many people want to know, because blissful ignorance relieves personal accountability. While the Pollyanna mindset has value in maintaining a cheerful disposition, attrocities of humankind are perpetuated when happy people turn a blind eye. The truth IS overwhelming. But it is also a liberation from unconsciousness. Every courageous engagement that pushes us beyond our comfortable illusion provides an opportunity for evolution. We can only expand our field of view when we shine light in dark places.
It has been several months now since I made the life choice to become a vegetarian. Although I had an awareness about the horrors of inhumane practices for many years, I was not moved to change my ways until I forced myself to truly consider the consequences of my actions. The reality was presented to me in a visually engaging and emotionally raw film titled Earthlings. I have attached the link for this film for those of you who are willing to look honestly at how our choices impact the world we live in and the creatures who share this planet.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1282796533661048967
For those of you who are not, do not judge yourself. Each of us has our demons.
Henry Miller once wrote that “the aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.” I think he left out “reverently”.
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December 9, 2007 at 4:28 pm
twoblueday
I announced one day to my honey (we have not bothered with marriage, a choice we both support and I usually refer to her as “my honey” among the many terms of affection available) that I had decided to become a vegetarian. She started crying. Literally. She enjoys preparing meals, it actually seems to be a happy time for her making meals (it probably doesn’t hurt that I do the cleanup!). Preparing family meals is a part of her sense of family and self. She is not a vegetarian and never will be. I was unprepared for her response, so I talked to her about it, explaining that I, too, had a sense of self.
I had thought about vegetarianism for a long while. Then, the epiphany. I was driving along a road I drove almost every day. One of the few remaining fields with livestock is on that route. It was a really hot, sunny, central Florida day. I saw a couple of the cows had gone into the shade of a live oak for relief. A creature enough like me to seek that modicum of comfort should not be murdered just so I can eat them (and modern nutritional science seems to agree!).
Net result: I eventually capitulated, as I almost always do. I am, to some degree, less set in my ways than my honey. Change does not come easily to her. (She still irons sheets!).
I now live a life in conflict on this issue.
By the way, not to be picky, but do you think a writer of the skills of Henry Miller left out the word “reverently” accidently?