vegan awakenings
No More Important Task
March 12, 2025
Ahimsa and veganism are ideas whose time has come, and there is nothing that can stem the tide of an idea whose time has come.
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A New Path
February 5, 2016
I did not know that drinking milk supports sexual violation, killing baby animals, and the suffering of pregnant cows. Part of me wanted to believe that milk does not cause any killing and suffering because, well… I was one of…
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Creating Magic…
November 17, 2011
My experiences here have kindled a new fire in me, so instead of story-telling I jumped right to the processing. What am I learning here? The questions keep coming…
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Holding Ourselves Accountable
August 27, 2015
We may not always be able to cross the fences and save the animals pleading for our help, but the least we can do is hold ourselves accountable for how much or how little we perpetuate an archaic system of violence.
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Since Becoming Vegan…
July 1, 2014
The following testimonials indicate how overwhelmingly positive the transition to veganism can be for the individual. Far from feelings of deprivation or sacrifice!
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Because I Must
May 1, 2022
I’m a writer. I write because I must. I’ve done so since I was a child; thirty years of putting words to paper (real or virtual), of extracting thoughts from the nooks and crannies of my brain, of short stories,…
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The Very Best We Can Be
June 1, 2022
As we look into the future, impatient and anxious, yet always hoping that emancipation might just be closer than we think, my wish for those of us who call ourselves vegan is that we are able to somehow become even better at reaching out to those who are yet to be convinced.
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Treading Peacefully Without Regret
May 30, 2023
I found my true soul when I became a vegan. Up to that point I had been practicing my spiritual path, but I was still living in a state of cognitive dissonance. How can one truly be connected to all…
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I Am Not a Tomb
(written by a vegan teen
in South Africa)
April 30, 2023
“We all live in a yellow submarine, yellow submarine, yellow submarine,” excuse me, this is my alarm, I shall be early out of bed without any doubt. “Time for breakfast,” my mother exclaims. Breakfast is the most important meal of…
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More Important to me Than Anything
March 15, 2023
While it may not seem that my parronthood and veganism are related, they are actually poignantly connected. The message of veganism is respect, love, and freedom for all the nonhuman animals whether in a slaughterhouse, marine park, laboratory, or pet store.
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The Temple of Life
February 21, 2023
This is a story of how one hour changed my destiny.
At 18 years old, I read a pocket-sized book called Arnold Ehret’s Mucusless Diet Healing System. The book explained what animal foods do to the human body, and it convinced…
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The Reasonable Man Theory
January 31, 2023
Before long, we decided to devote our lives to spreading the word about the plight of not only the so-called "food animals," but all sentient beings.
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Not for Me
January 31, 2023
With this one decision, the false belief I had been holding on to was replaced by a feeling of such relief, such freedom, and such gratitude for the realization that I had the power to liberate myself from the guilt and confusion that was stopping me from moving forward.
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My Vegan Journey
January 31, 2023
It was 1972 when I started my vegetarian journey. I was at WelMet summer camp at age 12. (Howard Stern was a counselor and kitchen boy there with his first radio show!) A fellow camper put a fork in a…
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Waking Up
January 31, 2023
I became vegan at the age of 34. That was 43 years ago, upon meeting Gentle World. Little did I know at the time that this connection was going to change my life forever. I found the organization at a time…
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I Will Not Give Up
December 22, 2022
I have been vegan for 10 years (and vegetarian for seven years prior to that). I became vegan for the animals as I believe that all animals have a right to live their lives free from fear and intimidation; they…
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Dawn of a New Day
November 9, 2022
Veganism changed my life’s path, and showed me the light that we all have burning inside us. Every day I think about what I can bring to this world to make it a better place. The root of all of these desires is truly from opening my eyes and making the first step in becoming vegan.
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You
April 1, 2022
I write as I feel the animal, the not-me, the you. You. Hen. Sitting there in your cage, I sense you in my veins, I see your bars from the inside, I hear your heart beat slowly, like it might…
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A New Way of Thinking and Living
November 3, 2021
35 years ago I went to see Gentle World when they were based in Florida. I was a full-on carnivore when I arrived with a truck full of guns, fishing gear, and animal skins and hides of every kind. The people at Gentle World gave me the opportunity to make the change fast and painless, and quite frankly I can’t imagine living any other way now.
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No Other Choice
March 1, 2022
Children are born with compassion, but are often taught to disregard animal suffering by their parents, educators and peers. My mother tells a story where she took 3-year-old me to a neighbor’s house to see some very skittish feral kittens…
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I’m a Vegan Traveller
May 20, 2021
Ever since my childhood, when I would sit on my dad’s lap and look through glossy coffee-table books full of photos of faraway places, I’d always wanted to explore the world. Shortly after college graduation, I took off on what…
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I Was Wrong
February 26, 2021
The following was written by Reddit user Nick Salamone and posted to the r/vegan subreddit. It is reproduced here with kind permission from the author.
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Bruno: A New Perspective on Happy Cows
August 10, 2011
This is not the story of a factory farm; it is the story of a beautiful farm with “free range” animals who seemed to be “happy.”
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The Colored Entrance
April 1, 2013
Did you stand up for the rights of the enslaved, the oppressed, the massacred? Did you withdraw your support for every single shameful service the exploitation industry provides? Did you speak up on behalf of the billions of innocent victims and plead with the rest of humanity to do the same?
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Burying the Past
July 27, 2012
When we recognize that we are not burying a pair of shoes, but the skin off someone’s back, laying them to rest can help us lay to rest our own past transgressions and misperceptions.
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I’m a Vegan Vet
March 16, 2021
I’m a vegan because I can save more lives and prevent more suffering by simply not supporting the killing of animals for food and fibre, etc., than I ever could simply by being a vet.
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Thanksgiving
November 22, 2019
As we approach the seasonal massacre of which these magnificent birds have become perversely and paradoxically symbolic, the momentary burst of happiness granted by their calls is interrupted by the painful reminder of who these individuals are considered to be by others of my kind: bodies without souls entitled to not even the most basic of birthrights — life itself.
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I’m a Vegan Catholic
January 16, 2021
As I continue to work toward understanding and embracing a consistent life ethic, the philosophy behind veganism simply made sense within the context of my faith.
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A Hen’s Relationship with her Eggs
June 29, 2012
During my time working around chickens, there were a number of experiences that changed my perspective on eggs and opened my heart to the hens that laid them. The first started with making a homemade “farm fresh” omelet out of eggs a friend had collected.
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Inspiration from a Vegan Nurse
May 8, 2016
I consider becoming vegan a spiritual journey and I have enormous respect for the sacredness of life. To me, being vegan flows through to respecting and valuing all life and the earth.
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To "The Conscientious Omnivores"
May 5, 2015
Special thanks to JoAnn Farb for allowing us to reproduce this article from her March 2015 newsletter.
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The Biggest Feminist Issue There Is
January 21, 2014
In September of 2013, Gentle World's Angel Flinn was interviewed by activist Ashley Maier, whose blog explores many issues, including the interesectionality of veganism and feminism.
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Is It Possible to REALLY Be Vegan?
November 1, 2023
It is an unfortunate fact that our society operates in such a way as to make it impossible to participate without being implicit in harms against other animals. However, this shouldn't prohibit us from doing what we can to avoid participating in the most grievous harms.
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It Must Have Been Lovely
March 2, 2013
43 years after Tom Paxton wrote such poignant lyrics mourning our impending loss, the loveliness of my own garden holds more meaning to me than ever... Will we always have flowers? Will the forest always have trees? Will meadows always be green?
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The Last Fish
March 2, 2013
I hated eating the fish we caught. Hated their eyes looking up at me from my plate. These and the crabs that we played with and then boiled alive are the only animals I ever watched die before me.
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You Can’t Return to Ignorance
September 26, 2011
On the one hand, the decision seemed pretty easy. On the other hand, my parents own a farm. They raise animals for meat, and my mum milks cows for a living. So, I had a big crisis on my hands about how to bring those alternative points of view in line.
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Rewarded for Being Vegan
June 27, 2011
Over many years of encouraging people to become vegan, Gentle Worlders have had the remarkable privilege of witnessing the wonderful benefits that occur when individuals take advantage of this amazing opportunity.
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Enjoying the Riches of the Vegan Lifestyle
May 25, 2011
Veganism was the perfect spiritual decision and came at just the right time – to live a cleaner life; in mind, body and spirit. It is such a freeing and empowering decision! Before, I felt a missing piece in how I lived my life. Veganism was the ultimate way for me to finally express the powerful connection I feel towards humans, animals, and nature.
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Waking Up: Vegetarian to Vegan
March 30, 2011
Veganism is in many ways an evolution; not merely a diet choice, but a complete shift in perspective. As I look back over the last 26 years of my life, I wonder how it is that it took me so long to live my life the way I’ve always said I wanted to: with honesty.
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I Remember Going to the Barn at Night
October 29, 2023
The foundation under my privileged feet is ranching. The root reason why I was able to go to university, travel, and have never known hunger is that my family raised cattle. Beef put food on my table, even if I didn’t eat it. I know what modern farming practice entails.
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Uniting the World
September 30, 2023
I have traveled 25 countries; most divided by color, race, and religion, but have found vegans uniting the world and bringing hope, peace, and harmony.
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A Future we are Willing to Fight For
August 31, 2023
When I ask people to think about Art, most describe a specific work, such as a painting, a sculpture or a piece of design. But what most people fail to comprehend is that Art is a gateway to a world…
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I Refuse to be Part of the Problem
July 30, 2023
I’m not proud of it, but my path to veganism was born of sheer vanity.
One of the curses of designers is that we can value image above most other things. I’ll spend hours agonising over positioning a single bead,…
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The Most Unexpected of Places
June 30, 2023
I attend a university, but my lessons come from all aspects of my surroundings, not just the classroom. My teachers come in a variety of species, each with wisdom to impart on my permeable brain.
The beginning of my learning…
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