Glenn's little ugly blog

On one of my favorite albums, "Blazing Arrow", Blackalicious raps:

Passion
The will to win, the spark within
Passion
The strength within the hearts of men
Passion
The drive to press, to strive for best, to rise
You've just arrived the quest is driven through
Passion
To play through pain and love the game
Passion
To break the chain and blaze the flame
Passion
The fight for rights to love your life, to rise
You've just arrived the quest is driven through
Passion

Being an activist is hard. Devoting my life to a cause that may not be won during my lifetime is incredibly hard.

It's so easy to give up, to spend time doing enjoyable things like hiking, watching movies, reading, or traveling. Staying healthy and leading a balanced lifestyle is important – but I think that it's very easy to avoid the work of activism by indulging in pleasurable activities.

Of course, our passions don't all lead to the same place. Some people are passionate about the outdoors and others are passionate about art or writing. But our passions can always be used to fuel activism – such as environmental activism for people who are passionate about the outdoors.

Paul Rogat Loeb wrote one of the best books I've ever read about activism: The Soul of a Citizen. When I'm feeling overwhelmed by the daunting task of working for animal rights for the rest of my life I grab my copy, flip it open to a random spot, and read for a while. I can usually find something in there that inspires me.

For instance, Paul Loeb writes about Susan B. Anthony, who fought for her whole life so that women could vote. She never saw a victory, and died unsuccessful. Did she feel like she was a failure? Maybe, but that's really unimportant. What is important is that 14 years after her death women were granted the right to vote in the United States (4 years earlier here in Canada). That victory could not have happened without all of her work.

Can you imagine how much passion she had for her cause? And what if she, and all of the other women (and men) who worked for so long, had given up?

One of the biggest lessons I learned from Soul of a Citizen is that we all play a part in a movement – and we may not see what that role is or the value in it at the time. But it's vitally important that we keep working at it, since all of our efforts combine to produce eventual victory.

Keeping our passion alive so that we can continue to work towards animal liberation without burning out is very important. The issues that face us have faced millions of other activists before us, and are not enough to stop us. We are working together, whether we know it or not, towards a better future. Just keep on standing up and speaking out, keep the passion burning, and never give in.