Aware of the suffering caused by exploitation, social injustice, stealing, and oppression, I vow to cultivate loving kindness and learn ways to work for the well-being of people, animals, plants, and minerals. I vow to practice generosity by sharing my time, energy, and material resources with those who are in real need. I am determined not to steal and not to possess anything that should belong to others. I will respect the property of others, but I will prevent others from profiting from human suffering of other species on Earth.

This training brought me back to all the years I was studying to be a social worker, back to all our class discussions, debates, fights (yup) about exploitation, injustice, oppression (my university's stance on social work was anti-oppression... I know this term quite well). I like how we throw animals, plants, and minerals into the mix. Social work just mainly focused on people. I found that limiting. Anyway.

I have always felt that I am 100% responsible for things that I know but chose not to do anything about. I do not like contributing to mass consumerism. I do, as I live in a capitalistic society and we buy what we need (and sometimes what we want). That being said, I totally think sometimes how my life would be better if I had a better MacBook, a car (this is the most often. I lament selling my car more than anything in the world. Apparently my life was easier when I had a vehicle.), if I was thinner so I could shop and buy cute clothes at such and such store... the height of me buying into this mass consumer thingie was 2005-2007 when I was obsessed with makeup and every time MAC cosmetics released a new collection, I'd go out and buy it all. Now, most of that makeup sits in my bathroom (which resembles a MAC store) collecting dust, as I have no time to wear it, and well, wearing makeup and teaching hot yoga really isn't the best idea anyway.



There's even more in the cabinet off to the right and the cabinet under the sink. If anything, it will pay my rent one day should I need it. I think I justified all of this since MAC doesn't test their products on animals.

Anyway - like I was saying. 100% responsible for the things I know and don't do anything about. Last year I stopped drinking coffee from Tim Horton's when I found out how it was not fair traded and how awful they treat their growers. I emailed Tim Horton's telling them of my disappointment in their company. I got back a short emailing saying they are aware of how they treat their growers, but they make up for this by putting out their little change donation things in their stores to donate to children's camps and programs. Please note: these programs benefit kids living in Canada, not the children of the growers who are being maltreated. Nice.

I try to only buy what I need. I do not buy mass quantities of stuff. I tend to wear my clothing until it's threadbare - same with my purses and backpacks. I feel in a way this prevents me from contributing to human suffering since I am not buying into clothes that have come from child labour/try to stick to clothes made in the US and Canada (reducing the carbon footprint), etc. When I shop for groceries, I try to buy local, in season produce, grains, etc.

Cultivating loving kindness is a tougher one. Actions are great but to really feel something in your heart takes a lot of work! I have days where I am in love with the world, where I feel like I've just made out with the Dalai Lama, and if someone were to come up to me and take my purse, I'd gladly give it to him and probably give him a hug as well. Then I have days where all I want to do is dropkick the person who cuts me off on the sidewalk (note: when I drove, I had sever road rage. To the point where I had chest pains. Perhaps selling my car was a good thing after all), and God help that person who were to try to take my purse - he'd probably get kicked in the teeth!

While I don't think someone should really hug the person who steals their purse, it would take a lot for me to come to reasons as to why my purse was stolen. Because this hasn't happened to me (knock on wood/touch red) I can objectively look at why this crime would be committed. This would happen because our society is made up of have and have nots. I would have, and this particular person would have not. Perhaps they needed money for food. Perhaps they knew they'd be able to sell my favourite Coach purse on ebay for a lot of money. Perhaps they needed money for food so they could make sure their little ones at home would get something to eat. Or their dog. But in the heat of the moment, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be thinking any of those things. I would probably be alternating between sheer panic, rage, and relief nothing worse had happened to me!

During my social work degree, I spent a lot of time, energy and resources with people who needed them. There is so much more underneath the exterior of people who are in need of social services or are living on the street. Each person I met had a different story, and each story would break my heart. It is not just black and white. So many events had to happen for them to get to their current state of mind and living situation. So many were victims of circumstances, and I often wondered had their lives had been different, like had they been born and raised in a middle class family, or had been awarded a scholarship to go away to school, or had a teacher taken interest in them and had acted as a mentor, if they would be in the same situation that they had been in now. The mom who had her kids taken away from her might not have had the social supports in place to be a good mom. The man on the street who smells awful might not be able to get to a shower, because he has a mental disorder and simply cannot find his way to a day shelter. The woman yelling at you on the street because you can't spare any change might not just be being mean to you, she might have schizophrenia. It is so easy for us to judge these people, when all we see is what is on the surface. It was a huge wake up call for me, and I am really happy for the experiences I was given through my internships in child and family services, and with our Aboriginal population.

I hope that I can continue to try to be more compassionate towards others, especially myself and my family and friends, who sometimes unfairly get the brunt of my frustrations. I really need to ax that.