Vegan Awakenings Archives

vegan awakenings

Black and white full-frontal close up of the eyes and face of a cow

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.

Ocean sunset with silhouette of a man with arms raised

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!

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,…

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.

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…

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.

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…

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.

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 me…

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.

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.

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…

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…

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…

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.

A hen in a cage at a factory farm in Australia

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…

Silhouette in the morning light of a hunter at the opening of Victoria's duck hunting season.

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.

Two young lambs in a field marked with red spray paint

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…

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…

Double rainbow in dark, cloudy, rainy sky

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.

A young brown bull on a meadow, looking toward the camera

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.”

A black and white historical picture showing segregation at a water fountain

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?

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.

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.

A beautiful close-up portrait of a turkey

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.

Pages of an open bible with rosary beads

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.

A beautiful brown hen sits with her eggs in a wooden roost

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.

Big, bright sunflowers in the sunlight, facing the camera with blue sky in the background

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.

A cow stands under a tree in a golden field with the sun setting behind her

To "The Conscientious Omnivores"

May 5, 2015

Special thanks to JoAnn Farb for allowing us to reproduce this article from her March 2015 newsletter.

Woman inside shed gently holds a hen in her arms in front of a door open to nature

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.

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.

Close up shot of a country path surrounded by magical wildflowers

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?

A man's hand holds a tiny rainbow trout in the water

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.

A woman blindfolded in a black eye mask, with black background

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.

Silhouette of a woman reaching joyfully overhead on the beach during a golden sunrise

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.

Black and white image of two hands holding each other by a window

Enjoying the Riches of the Vegan Lifestyle

May 25, 2011

Back in April, we received a beautiful letter from Eric and Lilly, two of our all-time favorite penpals who came to visit as wwoofers back in 2010, and have stayed in touch ever since about their vegan-making ventures.

Woman's hand holding a white chicken's egg with a basket of eggs to the side

Waking Up: Vegetarian to Vegan

March 30, 2011

I came to Gentle World’s Vegan Education Center inspired by a friend’s email suggesting it as an interesting place to visit and drawn by the veganic gardening concept. I thought, “what the heck, why not WWOOF for a week and see what happens?”

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.