While it is nice to blog about the sunshine and my banana pancakes, I can’t help but think that this life truly is messed up. The world we live in is in chaos and we are a part of it everyday. Everything is so easy and convenient. The fact that we eat fruit that has traveled half way around the world to get to us, or that we have fresh drinking water always available to us, is not something many people think about.

While I love to blog about all the things that truly are wonderful, I never want to let myself forget all that is going in behind the scenes of this life that we play out. I never want to forget that I am (and we are all are) apart of a much bigger picture.

Behind every purchase we make, materials, natural resources and labor went into it. Every animal we eat was killed for our consumption. Every piece of garbage we throw away does go into a landfill someplace. Everything that we do has an effect and most of the things we are doing, are having terribly negative effects on not only our own lives, but the lives of others as well. Call it karma, call it the law of cause and effect or that you reap what you sow. Whatever you call it, whatever you believe, it is true.

There  is so much going on at our fingertips. We cause so much destruction, so much pollution and suffering and as much as we would hate to admit it, it is all a result of our selfishness. We would much rather live our lives not knowing what our actions are really contributing to on a daily basis. It is so much easier to just throw away all our garbage and never give a thought to where it is going. It is so much easier to buy the meat at the store and never have to think of the life and death that it had. It is so much easier to swipe your visa card for a purchase and never have to think of the worker that helped create that product, the materials that went into making it or how far it had to travel to get to you.

While it is easier to not have to look at where our selfishness and convenient lifestyles have gotten us, we have to ask ourselves, are we really happy? And if we aren’t, are we not just reaping what we have sown? With everything now on such a large scale and all the results of our actions kept from our knowledge, we have to ask ourselves, “how long can it go on like this?” How much more convenient can life get? Everything these days is bigger, faster, cheaper, but is it really better?

Is all this convenience really what we want? If we knew what the results of our everyday actions were, would we make different choices?

Today I wanted to take the time to be conscious and have a look at what the effects are behind everyday convenience and the results of our actions. They say a picture speaks a thousand words, so rather than writing today, I thought I would just share some photos I found.

Newborn male chickens are thrown into plastic trash bags at the hatchery.
This is a standard egg production farming practice throughout the world.

Dairy cow with mastitis

Calves get taken away from their mothers so that we can have their milk. They are used for veal and are tethered at the neck, never to walk, so the meat is tender.

Yes, there is something seriously wrong here. I wonder why we are so afraid to see the results of our actions? I know there is so much that I haven’t even touched on and even more going on than I will ever even know about. I want to enjoy my life and be happy, but I never want to forget what goes on behind the scenes or for my convenience and what consequences my actions have on the life of another.

If we are unhappy people, going about our mindless ways, we only need to remember, we reap what we sow.