Living without eating animals

By David Mourato

I’ve spent years asking myself questions based on the education and the experiences I’ve had. While some answers were easily on the surface, for others I had to dig a little deeper.

My name is David, I’m a graphic designer, a musician, or let’s just say a creative person. As a Portuguese guy born and raised in Luxembourg, I’ve always wondered what my life could have been if my dad would have decided to immigrate to Australia instead of Luxembourg, since he apparently had the choice back then. 

Now I believe that it doesn’t really matter where I live as long as I stay curious and see life as a long learning process that allows me to connect with myself.

One of the biggest changes in my life so far was about my nutrition. On a usual evening in December 2013, my girlfriend and I had everything ready for a cosy diner on the couch with something on the screen, ready to press play. 

Only this time, we were going to watch a documentary about how animals are treated in various industries in the world. Not the most appetizing subject but I guess that neither of us was clearly expecting anything. 

The images were really shocking and extremely hard to watch, the horrifying sounds of machines mixed with animals in agony was something known but never in it’s real context. It is something what most of us are completely disconnected from or prefer to ignore, so it felt like a violent slap in the face. Later, when the movie was over, the credits started appearing and this first question popped in my mind: "what the hell am I going to do?”.

When I was around 6 or 7 years old, my parents had rabbits in the backyard. I used to play with them, but somehow my parents never wanted me to get attached to them, unlike my hamster or other pets. 

The rabbits were different, just like the chickens and chicks at my aunt’s place in Portugal. I remember that there were hundreds of baby chicks chirping in this creepy condensed and smelly room. 

I could easily go on my knees and grab four of five of these tiny fluffy creatures with my hands without really realizing they were destined for slaughter. Like-wise, the sheep and the pig at my grand-parents place were also black listed and belonged to a category of “non-attachment”. Or “non-compassion”.

Was it easy to change our mindset? It can be as easy as watching one documentary and get enlightened by the subject, but after this documentary, we really got into more of them and kept learning. 

As we were watching one after the other, the subject drifted from animal compassion to health, spirituality, sustainability. We becames less ignorant, realising that all life on this planet is precious, and yet the world we live in is sadly made of social conspiracies and greed. 

This whole process transformed us both mentally and physically. We got to reach an open-minded state, which allowed us to discuss these things, question them and react to them, leaving our egos aside. It wasn’t about swallowing and following every movement with a true convinced spirit or doing everything in some precise way, but rather about getting informed and learning what really matters to us. As a result, we each found our own progress and growth through it.

Of course, it would be hard to progress into this new lifestyle, full of new ideologies without people questioning it or struggling to be fully accepted by family and friends. 

Unfortunately, that’s when I really discovered how all these people can be. It was rough and disappointing. I had to face their ignorant reality with my newly “awakened” mind and try not to judge the people that I actually cared about. There were a few people I would have never thought would disappoint me so much by their intolerant reactions. 

One of my teachers in art school once told me that my temperament was rather “choleric”, which in other words means someone that is irritable and can really freak out in a discussion. I wasn’t really pleased to hear that since I believe I'm clearly a mixture of different temperament types, although I must admit that when it’s about arguing, I can really easily lose my temper. 

As a result, after only a few months, I decided to refuse discussing this whole vegetarianism subject and keep it to myself, even when questions were asked. There is really no point on arguing with people about such a delicate subject if it’s to bring out negative energy, because I believe that you can be an enlightened person but still not really good at sharing your point of view.

Today, I don’t really see myself as a vegetarian because the term involves way more factors than what we think. We need labels to define ourselves, to categorise and differentiate one from another but at the end we all breathe the same way. It’s the all-round approach on conscious living that triggers the evolution in which I’m in and it’s not effortless. 

Inspiring people is really gratifying and I try not to judge. I prefer to acknowledge and praise anyone who is on the way there. There are some people who feel threatened and take it personally when they hear that I try to eat plant based, so they start coming up with excuses and this makes me feel uncomfortable.

Choosing not to eat animals has been pretty easy for me, and I can’t complain about vegetarian-friendly places in Luxembourg lately. I haven’t had any health deficiency, I haven’t read any story of a dead vegetarian or vegan person lacking proteins, but I must admit that the hardest part is to deal with people around this subject.

 Nevertheless, I’ve never eaten as much colorful, happy food, and the vegetable department at the grocery store is the one we spend the most time at. I’ve tried an enormous amount of new vegetables which I didn’t know before and they brought such a variety in my diet mixed with ingredients and discoveries that can really boost my energy. I also love sharing this delicious food with friends and family.

On a more personal and psychological level, I feel that am becoming way more connected and honest with myself, nature and every possible animal or living creature. 

This whole learning process is something personal that brings peace in my mind and a lot of compassion. I feel that the more I try to respect nature, the more easy it is for me to question everyday situations I face normally and feel more happy about this continuous growth!

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