I am also new to vegan, but vegetarian for longer and remember teasing my younger sister when she was a vegetarian about 5 years ago. But recently I have learned so much that I apologize everytime I see her. Last month I went to Wisconsin for a family reunion and as we were driving through the middle of nowhere I started seeing all of the dairy farms and processing plants and almost cried. My boyfriend did not understand why it bothered me so much but that was the turning point to become vegan. If I were raising cattle and chickens I would probably go for some homemade cheese or butter and definatly some of my chicken eggs, but until I can do that and know that what is going into my body was humane, then I will be vegan. (I do have the occasional egg from my parents house--they have 5 hens!!)

The hardest part of having the knowledge is not talking about it to every person you know who eats anything mindlessly.

Totally agree Speedy! Glad to hear someone on the same page Daffodil. I just try to make good food and answer questions when I'm asked. I also choose not to eat around some people because they mock me. That really angers me!! people don't have to agree with me but I do want to be respected.

I'm a big fan of the "joyful vegan" approach in most situations.

But I disagree that knowing is a burden. As NGMama points out, reality isn't a choice. It's there whether one acknowledges it or not. This goes far beyond the rather narrow concerns of veganism per se.

In the day to day lives of just being working people, we are faced with poverty, homelessness, war, global financial crises, degradation of democratic institutions, daily difficulties finding jobs and keeping them, affording decent and nutritious food, and so on, in addition to the horrific treatment of non-human creatures. No one can pretend that all these things do not affect them, their families, their environment, their long-term interests.

I don't happen to know anyone who is burdened by this knowledge, but I know a lot of people who are daily motivated to change it. All of it.

But they would not be able to draw the strength that they have now if they'd remained isolated individuals trying to maintain themselves as paragons of morality in an apparent abyss of chaos and torment. That's not a workable model; it tends to crank out a lot of bitter people who once held very worthy ideals.

The people I know who are successful (and not just on the non-human question) are so through the organizations they build, based on their commitments, at working for change and setting the bar for citizenship in humanity.

I feel like way a lot of the time being new to veganism. And it motivates me to spread the word...posting videos on FB, etc... just cause I remember when I used to have that 'blindfold' on and just go on accepting things as everyone else does as normal. Until I was shown the knowledge. And yes, now my heart feels heavy many times when I see people that really don't care. Maybe I shouldn't care so much? But I'm glad that I do. And I will continue to because now that the blindfold is lifted, I can't put it back on.

I posted a video of a pig slaughter on FB and might have influenced some people. One friend kept saying that it is just the way it is...we are at the top of the food chain. And a couple other vegan friends chimed in and gave her the truth about it and then she said she's been considering veganism but doesn't know enough about it to dive in. I think once you get a peek outside the blindfold, the seed is planted and it will happen eventually. I offered to help if she needs any advice, etc.

I had some interesting conversations with some fairly open-minded friends that are omnivores at happy hour last week too. I wasn't going to bring it up, but one was all proud that he ordered meat-free nachos so that I could have some. I didn't want to break his heart and ruin everyone else's time by saying that I don't eat cheese or sour cream either, so I kept my mouth shut and just ate a couple chips that didn't have cheese on them with some of the guac. Later on, he was asking if the nachos were ok, and was I able to eat everything? And I said I don't eat cheese. And he was like 'Really what's wrong with cheese?' and he was genuinely curious, so I let him know about how unnatural it is, etc, etc, and it looked like a light went off in his head, as well as another friend.

Then I have some friends who agree with me, but then I see on their fb statuses about how they are enjoying their chicken dinner or whatever and it makes me sad. But what can I do?

So even though the knowledge makes my heart heavy sometimes, my heart would feel even heavier if I was eating the meat and animal products myself. Doing whatever I can within my power has made me feel lighter and happier that I am making a difference.