If the people of this planet were to take a trip on a time machine to their most pivotal moment of childhood, it would be to the initial experience of caring. Whether it was making a friend, aiding a little ladybug, or planting a tree in the backyard, that one moment sowed the fundamental seed for the rest of our development as humans. Humans have an inherently caring nature that becomes apparent even at the youngest age; put a baby in a room with only a piece of wood and a puppy and see which of the two they throw and which they pet. If the baby starts punching the dog and cuddling the wood, he/she would be labelled disturbed. Evidently, caring is very important for all of us, and essential for the world to function properly. But caring, more specifically for me, means having compassion, true interest, and taking action, and I incorporate caring into my life through my vegan lifestyle.
Caring, foremost, means compassion: compassion that reaches out to all. A person with compassion thinks about and empathizes with other people, animals, and the Earth. Caring is not exclusive to one person or group of people; everyone deserves compassion. Family members, strangers, pets, farm animals, and the environment are all in need of true care. Basically, anyone or anything that deserves aid should receive it. But only the people who care – who have compassion – will give that aid.
In addition to compassion, caring requires genuine interest. A large amount of heart needs to be present in order for someone to care. If a parent told their child to start caring about their younger siblings, the child would probably not start engaging in kind thoughts and actions to work their siblings. The willingness to change is just not there and the interest is not there. But the child could eventually develop an interest in caring more about their family, fostering a true sense of caring. If there is no genuine interest, people will fall short of genuine caring.
After combining compassion and an internal drive for wanting to care, the journey is only half finished. It is not enough to just think about others; we must act. To act is to externally show what has already internally manifested. Action turns caring into something requiring physically active participants. But action can either be large or small, either on a day-to-day basis or even more long-term. Caring is asking a friend how to help with her problems; caring is researching ways to reduce waist; caring is flying to a secluded town across the globe to repair damage caused by a natural disaster. Most importantly, caring is all of the best qualities held within human beings that allow us to make a resonating difference.
Preaching without practice shows hypocrisy; but I practice compassion, interest, and action by maintaining an ethical vegan lifestyle. Learning about the amount of violence in the meat and dairy industry has brought me to a point of change. Although I originally adopted this lifestyle mainly for the purpose of stopping animal suffering, I learned to gain new compassion and empathy for humans and the planet as well. Once I began caring and advocating for animals, doing the same for other groups became easier.