I love animals and nature, I always have. Protecting it and having reverence for it is very important to me, and indeed what The Gentle Barn is all about. Sometimes as animal lovers and conscientious people, we can get bogged down in the horror, the suffering, and the hopelessness of it all. We often feel defeated and angry. I meet people all the time that ask me what we can do to make a difference, to create change, to wake people up. I hear from people constantly that say, “People are so cruel. There is so much pain out there. This world is so horrible.” While that certainly is true, the opposite is true as well. There are wonderful people on the planet that are kind, gentle and aware. There are miracles happening every day. There is joy and abundance and happiness too. It is a question of what we focus on, and no matter what we focus on, we will always find evidence to support it.

Every single day I spend four or five minutes visualizing the world that I want to see: horses running free and hearing their thundering, galloping hooves pound the earth as they run by. I see forests so thick with trees growing so high that they touch the sky. I imagine clean, crystal rivers and oceans with thriving marine life. I visualize big, abundant gardens with food for all of us to eat. I watch people holding hands and hugging cows and smiling. I feel the fertile earth beneath my feet and feel the warm air embrace my skin. I feel the peace, the joy, the tranquility, and the relief of a gentle world. Then, I spend the rest of my day aware of the issues, but I hold onto the world that we are trying so hard to create. It is imperative that all light workers engage in this visualizing process because if we can’t imagine it or feel it, then how would anyone else. If we cannot believe that we can create a gentle world then how would we? We must live there first in our minds, and then we will live there in reality!

I believe that we will see a kinder, more gentle world in our lifetime. Indeed, it is already happening. There are thirteen countries that have banned the import or production of any product tested on animals. India has made dolphins non-human animals protected by law like a human. New Zealand has declared all animals as sentient beings protected by law as humans. There are more and more vegan restaurants opening every day all across the world. There are more and more vegan products created and available at markets. There are children that know without being taught that animals are not food. There are more videos, movies, and information being shared. And, there are adults of all ages waking up, making kinder choices, and contributing to the solution. We are getting there!

If you look at any movement in history: the civil rights movement in America, Africa, and India, or the feminist movement, when in it, it looked like change would never come. However, looking back at history, change did come. We did evolve and we will continue to evolve past this as well and we will create more rights and freedoms for animals. We are creating history right now, together, and it is an honor to be part of this movement. Just like we no longer look at a person of color as any different, one day the world will look at animals and know that even though the animal might look different to the looker, but the one looking back at us from inside a monkey body, a pig body, a cow body, an insect body, or any body is the same as us! As Howard Lyman once said, “the only difference between the species is our perception of them.” One day our perceptions won’t be different at all!

We will have a gentle world! Please imagine it with me!

Written by Ellie Laks
Founder, The Gentle Barn