Wednesday, April 29, 2009

What We Need To Do

Hello all! I know I've been gone a lot lately. With everyone tweeting and facebooking, I wonder if anyone reads blogs any more? (I do, I do!) For me, it is fun to quickly communicate with people I don't often (and sometimes never) see, but I do find this instant EVERYTHING stressful. It doesn't feel mindful. In any case, though, what I've been doing while I'm away from blogging (which I do miss) is writing. I am determined to make my living as a writer. Yes, I'm back to being a writer gal.

I have been determined to make my living for years, but then I was told by someone who worked for me that I couldn't make a living. He said what I wrote was beautiful and people didn't buy beautiful stories. And he only knew one writer who was making a living. Since I respected this person (and he said this to me soon after my mother died), I took it to heart more than I should have. And now I'm finally bouncing back from all that, I think.

What I said to him then and what I say now is this: The publisher makes a living; the editor makes a living; the printer makes a living; the agent makes a living; the cover artist makes a living. As writers, we are the creators of the stories: We should be able to make a living. Revolution comes in all forms. I've said it before and I'll say again: We need a revolution in publishing. Readers and writers need to lead the way. I'm going to keep writing the stories I want to write and hope that the readers (and publishers) will follow.

We also need a revolution in the food industry. I believe they will determine that this latest flu outbreak was be caused by or at least exacerbated by factory farming and/or the inhumane living conditions of animals. This has been true of other viruses as well. This doesn't mean you can't eat meat if you want to eat meat, but take steps to make certain the animals don't come from factory farms and that they have humane and clean living conditions. Crowded living conditions are vectors for disease. Stressed animals are more liable to get diseases. Also, write to President Obama and your congress people. Ask them to do something about factory farming.

Have you ever seen a factory farm? You can drive by them when you're going through California. They look like concentration camps for animals. Factory farms are inhumane, they're disease-ridden, and they cause an enormous amount of pollution. We get air pollution where I live from factory farms 120 miles away!

So if we're going to eat any animal products, it is up to us to make certain the animals were treated well while they were alive. This is for our own good, as well as for the good of the planet.

And during this time of hype and fear, let's all do what we can not to spread the fear. That can be the worst kind of epidemic.


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

"And during this time of hype and fear, let's all do what we can not to spread the fear. That can be the worst kind of epidemic." AMEN!!

Anonymous said...

"but I do find this instant EVERYTHING stressful."

Oh, boy. Me too. That's why I still tune in for the blog. Facebook has lost it's charm as I really don't care what games and quizzes my ethernet addicted friends are engaging in at breakneck speed. Compared to those methods, blogs seem almost personal. :)

I like the slower approach. That's why I'll be reading your blogs as long as you keep blogging.

Saulte

 
All work copyright © Kim Antieau 2008-.