Exploits of a Vegan Wannabe

Happy Meatless Monday. It is going to be a delicious week. Today instead of sharing a Meatless recipe I am going to share some meatless moments from our trip.I have been dying to tell you about Wake Up Weekend. This was one of the most fulfilling, exciting and intimate veg events I have ever experienced. There were vegan chocolate bars falling from the sky, potlucks and vegan pizza with microbrew beer behind every corner.

I left off writing right before Sandy and I went to Wayne Pacelle’s talk. Wayne is the CEO of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the largest animal advocacy group in the country.

He is also author of The Bond: Our Kinship With Animals, Our Call to Defend Them, and one of the most charismatic men I have ever shared the same air with. His talk was uplifting and inviting for all in the room, regardless of your location on the veg journey. It felt like he was sharing the directions to an ancient hidden treasure, one syllable at a time. I was riveted.

One of the most admirable parts was that he accomplished all of this without scary images or stories immersed in animal misery.  He was very matter of fact and said that he was not talking about the rights of animals but was speaking of human responsibility for them.  It is a human responsibility to protect the weak and defenseless, including animals.

He said that if we actually believe that we are superior to animals and have dominion over them then isn’t it even more important and correct for us to protect them?

He made it clear that it is up to us, every single person, every single day to make moral and kind decisions. It is up to us to accept our responsibilities as human beings and to extend basic rights to all living things, not just those to which we have attached emotional value like our companion animals. It was powerful.

After the talk there was a book signing and complimentary reception. There was sparkling punch and vegany treats. Our friend Jill, and our State Director of HSUS  introduced us to Wayne.  When she said, this is Sherry and she writes a vegan blog called “Exploits of a Vegan Wannabe,” he said he knew the blog. What? You do? I didn’t allow that to sink in because I wanted to remain calm and be cool, something I promised myself I would do before we arrived here. We took our photos together, had punch and met a new friend named Noah from the Washington DC Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) office.

It was so very cool.  This all took place in a college campus chapel, so it was incredibly intimate unlike many of the veg events I have been to in the past.

As soon as we got back into the KIA I ripped open our freshly signed, new copy of The Bond to see what personal and inspiring words Wayne had bestowed upon us. It was exciting. The entire evening was and it was only the beginning of our vegtastic weekend.

Please check out the HSUS website for easy ways to be involved and take action for the animals. Regardless of our palate preferences I am confident we can all agree that any living thing deserves a life free from suffering and that is something we can work toward together.

Have a delicious day.

The Bond image courtesy of HSUS.org

Tags: HSUS, Humane Society of the United States, Meatless Monday, vegan challenge, vegan wannabe, Wake up Weekend, Wayne Pacelle