We can change the world, he said.

'Standing before me, is the shadow of a man,
Who dreamed of a revolution.

I dreamed of a revolution.'

- Natty, Revolution.


Last weekend I came to London, where I'm staying for a couple of weeks working. I am blessed to have some wonderful friends around me; one of which being an old family-friend Dan who's home he is so kindly sharing with me for my stay. 
A true angel. Sometimes people show themselves in your life and have a dramatic impact on you without even trying, they bring out all your colours. I've felt more alive and vibrant than I have in a long time being here, surrounded by Dan, our conversation and his wonderful friends. I've talked more, really talked. Real conversation, conversation with deep understanding.. what a personal revolution. 
I often find myself struggling with speaking the words in my mind, which is simply down to lack of practice, but the last week my voice has begun to grow in confidence.. The words that I believe are coming out of my mouth more fluently and clearly and in hearing those words out loud, they grow in strength within me. I believe them more hearing them aloud somehow. And I must thank Dan for helping me with this, for allowing it to flow.

One question we found ourselves discussing was, is it egotistical to believe we can change the world?

Change the world you hear me say?! Am I going all Gandhi on you? No, but my conscience tells me we must take action. It is our duty on Earth to preserve it, to take care of it and pass it on in knowledge not neglect. People are loosing hope, but a small percentage of us are just finding it.

Change is happening, it can be felt like a gentle buzz in the air.. People are waking up, slowly, and bleary-eyed, but it's happening.. There's more talk of it than ever before. There is a feeling of hope, and in that there is love. We're beginning to awaken and see before us all the damage and unnecessary harm we're causing each other and our planet. It's devastating.
In layman's terms: our world is f**ked unless we make a change. It's being destroyed by our current existence; our wasteful desires, our excessive demands, egos and pride are a short number of things that are causing such horrific damage, and all the while, a lot of us are continuing.. Either through sheer ignorance, lack of compassion or through the selfishness taught to us by this world in which we live. It's a saddening cycle, we are conditioned to be this way, which is madness in itself... Society teaches us to become the creature which is infact the one destroying our planet. 

I use the word selfish vehemently (thank you Dan for this addition to my vocabulary) when I describe us as a selfish species. The MOST selfish of all the species on this planet; we destroy and consume greedily with a considerable lack of care towards the planet we are taking from, towards the other creatures we are killing and harming in our way. But we must question.. How long can this go on? Are we ignorant enough as a species to believe that the world has an endless supply, that it can withstand our excessive growth and consumption?! Look at the facts, our world is over-populated, polluted and disease-ridden. Our planet is dying, as are we.

But what can we do about it?

Saving the world is a big task. I get that. But I truly believe that that the current standard-American-diet is a major factor that CAN be addressed. Something each of us can do to contribute towards change. We are conditioned to believe that consuming meat and dairy is 'the norm' and unfortunately, the biggest success in food advertisement is that of processed food, (If only Suma wholefoods had the same reach as NestlĂ©!) and in buying and consuming these foods sold to us, we are getting sick, so we go to the doctors and they prescribe us more of the drugs which are sold to us by MORE giant companies. These huge corporations are controlling us more than we know. What you do need to know is, fuelling your body with the RIGHT foods can avoid a lot of this. I for one can vouch on it.. I haven't been sick in over a year since adopting a mainly raw, plant-based vegan diet. A lot of my 'symptoms': lethargy, digestive issues, headaches, sleep problems, aches and pains have improved dramatically. My skin and hair became healthy again within weeks of shunning the 'diet-foods' and chemical-filled products for real whole foods, abundant fruits and vegetables. After being deprived of nutrients for so many years, my body began to shine with life. I rarely even get headaches anymore, and that is something for someone who was taking pain killers in a daily basis. Fuel your body with living foods and it will fill you with life. 

On an individual basis we can begin right now, each of us; making conscious and considered choices about what we fuel our bodies with, what we create demand for.. THIS will and does have a huge part to play in these problems.

I don't want to be a vegan-preacher, nobody likes one of those.. But I have learnt so much on this path and I DO want to teach, and as we're on topic about revolutionising our dying planet.. If you want to make a change, save lives, (not just human) help our future generations, create positive energy in your life.. then you have to show compassion. You have to WAKE UP and be strong enough to take action. 
Individual contribution is everything. Any small changes you can make have powerful results, perhaps not instantly visible, but they do. 

A vegan diet is the ultimate protest. 
Our environment. Animal Suffering. Rising population. Global warming. Our oceans. Deforestation. Spreading disease. Water Pollution. Food insecurity. Species extinction. Our health. 
Just a small list of the immense damage that the meat and dairy industry and meat-consumption itself is having upon our planetChoosing a vegan diet is an act of compassion on all levels. It's taking action every day by decreasing the demand. We cannot afford to close our eyes to this.

There's a truly inspirational video online, Making the Connection by Benjamin Zephaniah (link below) that I first saw at the Northern Vegan Festival over a year ago.. It empowered my veganism and really is eye-opening. I was at the huge annual event in London this weekend, VegFestUK where I re-watched the video again.. It was wonderful for me to see the moving effect it had upon the two friends I took with me; to share and teach insight is a beautiful thing.
The short film looks at the connection between meat-eating and our planet, honest and clear in its message, Benjamin makes the whole situation crystal clear in his powerful words. The food we eat has a direct effect on ours and others lives and our planet. Consider those choices and instantly you are showing compassion. Instantly you are making a change. 

As I said before, I'm trying not to preach or push.. It's just the facts and the rest is left to you, remember IT IS YOUR CHOICE, there is no bullshitting around here. (Don't even give me the protein debacle, I promise I will shoot you down :-/ With a little knowledge, the only change it will have upon your health is positive.) Remember it's all about contribution; any small conscious choices - less meat, organic, alternative milks etc... If you aren't prepared to make the full change then at least you can make small changes. If there's something you can do to make positive change and you're not prepared to even acknowledge that, to show a little compassion and care.. then you really are almost dead already.

No, it won't instantly change the world tomorrow by choosing beans over bacon today, but gradually it will. Currently, the standard meat-eater produces (approximately) a collosal 16kg of CO2 per day compared with 6kg being produced by that of someone following a vegan diet. That IS change. And the list of statistics continues.
I will stop now on the vegan fight.. But if just one person reads this and feels compelled to make some positive changes towards a more conscious diet and lifestyle, then it was worth a little rant :) 

As I mentioned, I was lucky enough to be able to be in London last weekend for VegfestUK.. What an event! If you're vegan, veggie or just a conscious foodie it's a great event. It was amazing for me to see how huge the event has become.. It's now a full-scale London-Olympia sell-out, as I say.. Change is happening. 
Arriving early to find a queue of hungry vegans snaking it's way right down the street and around the (two!) corners was quite a shock! But for once I was more than happy to stand in that queue, because everyone was there for the same reason, keen to make a change. There was so much positivity and hopeful energy there, I came away truly uplifted.
I saw several amazing talks and campaign speakers at the event; Kate Magic's talk about raw food living was particularly inspiring.. I would completely recommend anyone interested in vegan, vegetarian lifestyle, raw food, animal rights or Eco-living to try to get tickets for the next Vegfest event... What an incredible event!

So going back to the question, is it egotistical to believe we can change the world? My answer is absolutely it is not. Of course we have to believe, we have to have hope and we have to continue to speak and use our voices to make a change. 
To say, I am not prepared to let suffering continue, I am not prepared to continue contributing towards damaging this planet is not egotistical. It is the most compassionate step we can take to want to make a change. To want to have a positive influence on something much bigger than ourselves. It is happening. We just need more people to speak up and say that too, together we can change the world.

Don't hide in the shadows, don't quieten your voice..  
Speak of a revolution.

With love x






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