What does our relationship with animals say about us?
<p><em>“The shame I felt was because I was human.”</em></p><p>I recently finished reading Jane Goodall’s book Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey. What a gift she is - a true Big Thinker & Deep Feeler. I’ll be doing a more holistic reflection on the book, but I wanted to set aside some space to specifically address one aspect of it - her observations of our relationships, as humans, with animals and her insight into this given her in depth study of chimpanzees.</p><p>In Reason for Hope, Miss Goodall takes us on a journey ranging from beauty to horror. From the magical green forests of Gombe to the cruel, torture chambers that we call laboratories. This journey covers much ground experientially and emotionally. Many of the stories were painful to read. It isn’t easy to hear that the incredible chimpanzees, clearly capable of intellect and emotion, would at times maul one another - ganging up to mutilate a selected target. Stories like this pierce the fantasy that Nature is all beauty and grace. <em>(Nature has always been brutal, but I think that sometimes we romanticize it.)</em></p><p>Worse though, were the stories Jane recounted about visiting laboratories doing testing on animals.</p><p><em>“I am still haunted by the memory of Barbie’s eyes, and the eyes of the other chimps I saw that day. They were dull and blank, like the eyes of people who have lost all hope; like the eyes of children I have seen in Africa, refugees who have lost their parents and their homes. Chimpanzee children are so like human children, in so many ways… And their emotional needs are the same – both need friendly contact and reassurance and fun and the opportunity to engage in wild bouts of play. And they need love.”</em></p><p><em>“I knelt down in front of JoJo, and he reached as much of his hand as he could between the thick bars that formed a barrier between us. The bars were all around him, on every side, above and below. He had already been in this tiny prison for at least ten years; ten years of utter boredom interspersed with periods of fear and pain. There was nothing in his cage save an old motor tire for him to sit on. And he had no opportunity to contact others of his kind. I looked into his eyes. There was no hatred there, only a sort of gratitude because I had stopped to talk to him, helped to break the terrible grinding monotony of his day. Gently, he groomed the ridges where my nails pressed against the thin rubber of the gloves I had been given, along with mask and paper cap. I pushed my hand in between the bars and, lip smacking, he groomed the hairs on the back of my wrist, peeling the glove down.”</em></p><p><em>“He and many others of the three hundred or so chimpanzees earned their keep; their bodies were rented to pharmaceutical companies for testing drugs or vaccines.”</em></p><p>These stories are disturbing because we can’t simply chalk it up to, “Nature is brutal.” We have the capacity to understand the effects of our actions. Choosing to ignore that, and to harm another living creature despite it, is a sickness of mind, heart, and soul. It is a disorder of Disconnection. The irony is that we create this Disconnection between ourselves and our mammal family because we are “higher functioning.” Does this seem so from the current vantage point?</p><p>The kicker here is that this Disconnect is only our perception, we can’t actually change our relationship with Nature. All of Life is Interconnected, so when we try to (artificially) Sever that Connection - pain is caused on both sides of that severance. In this case, the animal pain is obvious while ours as humans is much more subtle. We cannot <em>see </em>the pain that we inflict on ourSelves by doing this, but it is there. There is a spiritual wounding that occurs deep below the surface, one that goes unnoticed to the Disconnected heart and soul, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t there - or that it doesn’t manifest in dis-ease of the spirit. Chronic stress, anxiety, depression, and purposelessness don’t come from nowhere - these aren’t innate to our True Nature. These are diseases of Disconnection. <em>(I’m not suggesting that these have a single cause or that they are our only “diseases of Disconnection.”)</em></p><p>If we took the time to observe animals other than ourselves, we would see playfulness, communication, and intelligence. But because we don’t, it is easy to dismiss them as objects, rather than the living, feeling beings that they are. I believe that we do this subconsciously, so that it is easier to use them for our own benefit, so that we can live with mistreating them and causing them physical pain. How many of us think twice before biting into a burger, one that is made from the flesh of a cow that gave its “life” - of living in cramped, stressful, disgusting conditions - for us?</p><p><em>“At this point I want to make it quite clear that I do not condemn the eating of meat per se—only the practice of intensive farming. Let the meat eaters among us—most of my friends—try to partake of the flesh of animals who have enjoyed their lives and have been killed in the most painless way possible. And could we not offer up a prayer for the spirit of the once living creature that has died for us? In the olden days people did just that. Indigenous peoples still do. Any little thing that brings us back into communion with the natural world and the spiritual power that permeates all life will help us to move a little farther along the path of human moral and spiritual evolution.”</em></p><p>All of this Disconnection is possible due to the layer of separation we create between “us” and “them.” Like any “othering” this makes it easy to lack, or be completely devoid of, empathy - to Severe our natural Connection.</p><p>It is terribly sad that we allow this to happen - that we, knowingly or unknowingly, perpetuate these deranged behaviors with the products we buy or the food we eat. I don’t think that shaming ourSelves and our behaviors is helpful, but I think that acknowledging them is. I think that opening ourSelves up to even some of the pain that we’ve caused is a good place to start. Slowly but surely, we can start the process of Restoring our Connection with our fellow animals. We can choose to buy and eat humanely-raised meat. We can eat less of it, or maybe even stop eating it altogether. We can say a quick “thank you” to the living creature that gave its life for us before we eat it <em>(I have been engaging in this practice for some time now and while it may seem silly, it’s been meaningful to me.) </em>We can buy products that aren’t tested on animals. We can even simply pause to watch the birds in our backyards and acknowledge their aliveness <em>(a personal favorite.)</em></p><p>I’m not perfect. I do things that are out of alignment with my best intentions at times. It turns out it's difficult to change the way we’ve always lived and to bypass the conveniences of our modern, rushed lives. But I’m learning. I’m trying to be better. I’m trying not to blindly ignore the truths of our Disconnected ways. I’m trying to acknowledge my True Nature as a mammal and Restore my Connection with the natural world.</p><p>I believe that this is where we need to start. To Restore Connection, even if slowly, to other inhabitants of this Earth, to the whole of Nature. To pause long enough to see that we’re part of the same whole. To acknowledge our Interconnectedness. To admit that we’ve done wrong - that we’ve brought harm to Life, and therefore ourSelves.</p><p>We are all inherently Connected. We as humans can create as much Disconnection as we’d like, for our own comfort and agendas, but as long as we do, we hurt ourSelves. We’re a part of Nature, not separate from it. When we dismiss, and harm, other parts of the whole, it does just as much damage whether we acknowledge it or not.</p><p>I hope that we can begin to heal these Disconnections because Life is so utterly beautiful. It would be a tragedy to waste such a magical existence.</p><p><em>“It seemed to me, as I struggled afterward to recall the experience, that self was utterly absent: I and the chimpanzees, the earth and trees and air, seemed to merge, to become one with the spirit of life itself.”</em></p><p><p>Thanks for reading Big Thinker Deep Feeler! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.</p></p><p><p>Thank you for reading Big Thinker Deep Feeler. This post is public so feel free to share it.</p></p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://weareinterconnected.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1">weareinterconnected.substack.com</a>
