We got some taste of a materially independent life the other day, when we went fishing and prepared and ate the fish we got for lunch.
Fishing just for the fun of it has started to feel cruel for me. What right does anyone have to have fun or, even worse, relax by making other living creatures to suffer or kill some - even if they are just fish? (Not to mention the worms, but I have to admit that the fish have the most of my sympathy.) I also admit having done it when I was younger, but at the time it was normal and encouraged, as other people around me were fishing just for fun. The example of them made me think this is something natural and fun. Also I wanted to show everyone that I am as tough as the boys and can get my own worms and it's not grouse to touch a fish, but that's not my point now (;
I can think of many things people seem to do only for habit, for culture or for not questioning it (often for all of those). As a horse girl, one of the first things pops in my mind is the using of riding crop: as a child my riding teacher told me to hit the horse with the crop if the horse went too slow. Nowadays I would never hit an animal just because it isn't doing what I want it to, but at that time it was truism. But if the coach says so and everyone else is doing it anyway, it's no big deal, right?
A common acceptance of something lowers the chances for it to be questioned or changed, or that's what I believe. Outside the horses for example violence can be transmitted from the environment to children, if they have seen their parents fighting everyday. For them it's something natural, even though violence shouldn't be natural to anyone. I'm sure everyone can think of bad things that used to happen just because: slave trade, gladiator fights, oppressing women... the list is endless.
Questioning is good for anyone, even though it would be something little from everyday life - it's not always necessary to think about wars and famines. And it shouldn't be scared either, because if something is good and right, questioning it would just make you realize that. But it also needs some courage, because if and when you find something you did not want to see or admit before, it needs the courage to be able to make a change. I think it was Platon or Aristoteles who said that to be able to know something for sure, you have to start by questioning everything, also the things you think you already know.
Fishing just for the fun of it has started to feel cruel for me. What right does anyone have to have fun or, even worse, relax by making other living creatures to suffer or kill some - even if they are just fish? (Not to mention the worms, but I have to admit that the fish have the most of my sympathy.) I also admit having done it when I was younger, but at the time it was normal and encouraged, as other people around me were fishing just for fun. The example of them made me think this is something natural and fun. Also I wanted to show everyone that I am as tough as the boys and can get my own worms and it's not grouse to touch a fish, but that's not my point now (;
I can think of many things people seem to do only for habit, for culture or for not questioning it (often for all of those). As a horse girl, one of the first things pops in my mind is the using of riding crop: as a child my riding teacher told me to hit the horse with the crop if the horse went too slow. Nowadays I would never hit an animal just because it isn't doing what I want it to, but at that time it was truism. But if the coach says so and everyone else is doing it anyway, it's no big deal, right?
A common acceptance of something lowers the chances for it to be questioned or changed, or that's what I believe. Outside the horses for example violence can be transmitted from the environment to children, if they have seen their parents fighting everyday. For them it's something natural, even though violence shouldn't be natural to anyone. I'm sure everyone can think of bad things that used to happen just because: slave trade, gladiator fights, oppressing women... the list is endless.
Questioning is good for anyone, even though it would be something little from everyday life - it's not always necessary to think about wars and famines. And it shouldn't be scared either, because if something is good and right, questioning it would just make you realize that. But it also needs some courage, because if and when you find something you did not want to see or admit before, it needs the courage to be able to make a change. I think it was Platon or Aristoteles who said that to be able to know something for sure, you have to start by questioning everything, also the things you think you already know.
What would happen if you questioned a habit, relationship or opinion in your life that is obvious for you? If you are afraid of what you might find, then you shouldn't start before you're ready to open your eyes.
P.S. We also went picking blueberries the other day, that's in the pictures below. And tomorrow we'll go to pick mushrooms with my aunt - I feel like a hillbilly :D
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