I grew up always very sensitive to things around me. I cared a lot about the needs and feelings of others and usually had high expectations of myself to do things above-average. It is my belief that my decision to be vegan, to live animal-friendly and help the environment, was actually not a decision at all, but a realization of how I have always been.
Here are some things that stand out to me when I look back at my childhood:
-The Land Before Time. Yes it is about dinosaurs, but they were still animals. Even though I cried and cried when Little Foot's Mom died, it was still one of my favorite movies ever. Though my tears for the mother's death were in some part due to my broken home, I think a lot of it had to do with my empathy for animals.
-Bambi and Dumbo, Disney movies. Once again, animal death and sad feelings. These two movies as I recall were really hard for me to watch even as a very young child. I would cry so hard when Bambi's mother died, and forget about Dumbo. I remember when I was a child, I would get so mad at those people that tied up Dumbo's mom, all because she was trying to protect her baby. Those stupid kids teased Dumbo and she got upset, so the circus chained her up as a "Mad Elephant", UGH! I used to turn the movie off and storm out. I really didn't like those feelings that I had when watching those scenes. I was too young to understand but I do now, and I still feel the ache in my heart when I remember those moments.
-Another movie, Never Ending Story. The part when Artax dies in the Swamp of Sadness. I really didn't feel as much emotion with any other character in the movie except for Artax in that scene. And when I was a child, I didn't understand why he wouldn't move to save his life. Why Artax?? But he didn't move, he died... And I felt that sadness!
-FernGully. Save the rainforest. Plant seeds. Respect animals.
-Milo and Otis. They have to find their home!
-Lion King (Circle of life, death of Simba's dad).
-The Lorax. A powerful book!!
-When my mom brought home live lobsters to boil for dinner. I begged her to let me free them into the lagoon that we lived right next to at the time... (I was very young). I cried when she boiled them. Would YOU like to be boiled alive??
-One of my first pets was a turtle named Samantha, and a guinea pig named Laura Ingalls Wilder (Yes, at 9 years old I named my pet after a famous author)
-I really hated milk as a child but only for its taste. Then after I had children, I learned that dairy cows are constantly impregnated to keep their milk supply going. To make it worse their babies are taken away for veal or livestock. It kills me to think of how it must feel to be impregnated against your will and then the baby be taken away. So it has not been hard AT ALL to give milk up.
-Any kind of scene in a movie where an animal gets hurt or killed... Even movies where aliens get hurt such as E.T. and Mac and Me. Sadness!!
All of these moments (That I can think of at the top of my head) had big impacts on how I feel about animal cruelty and environmentalism.
More to come another day. I can't stay on the computer too long,
Wendy
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