We Within

This morning I saw a man on the ground, gravity pulling him with the kind of harshness that makes flesh bleed. His body tensed up and shook as two men raced to help. I felt my own body walk towards them in a haze, with the vague notion that I had something to do, as if the world was a stage and I had to play my part. I stood and watched for a few seconds, his mouth gaping like a fish out of the water, a scream rolling out of his lungs. So fragile, so vulnerable. That's how we all are, all creatures on this planet. Then, in the middle of shock, I remembered why I had moved in the first place.  "We have to roll him on his side". There it was. My small part in the play. As I said the words, one of the two men said the same thing. I remember our voices mingling in the air, speaking as one, but perhaps I'm remembering wrong. Memories like these tend to feel like a dream.  A woman stepped in to place her yellow scarf under his head and, like me, she silently retreated. Som...

It's Veganuary , the time of the year when many people "give veganism a try". Although I never participated myself, coincidentally, this month marks nine years since I went vegan. This word is tricky. Many think it's simply a dietary choice. Others describe it as a lifestyle. But that doesn't really define what it means. What is veganism, then? It's an ethical position, no more, no less.  When I say I went vegan nine years ago what I mean is I made the decision to oppose all animal use and exploitation. In all its forms, not just when it comes to what (or rather who ) I eat. Often people equate the word vegan with eating a plant-based diet but eating a plant-based diet doesn't necessarily mean the person supports animal rights. And that's the key here: Veganism = Animal Rights What veganism (or animal rights) proposes is that all species deserve moral consideration . This means if we can avoid harming animals, we must. If we have a choice to not expl...

Do you ever feel that learning to honour your needs is a lifelong task? The older we get, the better we know ourselves, and yet we stumble at times trying to even understand our thoughts and desires. Many of us grew up learning to suppress our introvert needs or at least feel bad for having those needs. If you live in a country where extroversion is preferred and introversion is greatly misunderstood, it was bound to happen. But now that there's more talk about introversion being just a personality type instead of a flaw, there is room for hope. I'm from Spain, one of the most extroverted countries in the world. The majority of my family members are very loud extroverts. Most of my friends are extroverted too (you know what they say: one day an extrovert comes and adopts you and that's it, you're friends for life). In our gatherings, I observe and listen for the most part and I like it that way, but for the longest time, I felt guilty for it and thought I had to be dif...