HOME | DD
JeyBarnes — Kirin Walk
Published: 2007-11-02 23:51:54 +0000 UTC; Views: 711; Favourites: 19; Downloads: 11
Redirect to original
Description
I think I first learned through one of ~ladydragona 's picture descriptions that kirin are said to be able to walk suspended on the tips of grass blades. The idea is that they have such profound respect for life that they are unable to crush it beneath their feet.This really stuck with me I guess because I am (as of pretty recently) a vegan, and sometimes I have to stop and think about the practicality of it as a lifestyle choice. I mean at what point does it become completely ridiculous and impossible to try and tread lightly? The vegetables I eat are probably over-irrigated and/or grown on cleared wetlands, and probably fertilized with by-products of the meat industry. Even meat/dairy/egg-free food is packaged in environmentally-unfriendly materials that can't even be recycled.
Jain monks wear paper breath masks so as not to breathe in microorganisms and kill them (the ultimate goal in Jainism is not to impact the world at all and to ritualistically allow yourself to starve to death).
I sometimes have a hard time settling for a realistic medium--in many of aspects of my life. I guess my guilt generator is on overdrive and sometimes I fall into this unhealthy, obsessive-compulsive pattern of going too far. Then I catch myself feeling smug about it and I have something completely new to guilt about. I think I need to realize that there's an ethical economy. How far is too far? Etc.
The phrase "kirin walk" has been bouncing around in my head and I had to try and put a picture to it. I hope it makes some sort of intuitive sense.
Thanks for commenting, gang. Sorry I'm so sporadic about replying, but know that I do appreciate it. (If you really want to make sure I see/respond to something, you're always welcome to note me. I'm flighty at the best of times and occasionally it takes flashing neon lights or the Clockwork Orange treatment to get my attention.)
Also: this isn't some kind of weird passive thing directed at anyone. I get to musing on a thought and it turns into a springboard for all sorts of excessive philosophizing.
Related content
Comments: 19
Wow.....i absolutely love it!!! that reminds me of me 100%. your information under it just made me think of myself the whole way through....i constantly think....well.....should i not step on the bugs on the grass......should i not use wood pencils because they killed a tree to get it (yes i actually do think that sometimes.) I totally understand.
What makes me happy is actually just deciding what I am going to do. Being vegan is already doing sooooooooo much, and that's already something to be proud of.....be proud of what you are doing because nobody is perfect and focusing on the downsides of things too much will keep you from actually doing things that will bring goodness to the world and other people.
I have decided that i am not going to look at the ground when i walk, but if i do happen to catch an ant hill in my eye, i will step over it. Just staring at the ground, yah sure i could make sure i don't step on one single ant, but that is really really time consuming, and it's my decision just to not look down. 
Everybody has to draw their own line and that is different for everyone. Some vegans are okay with killing bugs, others aren't.
Sure it's okay to feel bad if you accidentally step on an ant, but don't strain on it too much because your own guilty concious will prevent you from doing other goodness. And besides, an accident is an accident....it's the intent that really counts.
what also helps me is that i realize that the bottom of my shoes have those little design lines so most of the time they should be fine
actually, alot of the vegan food i buy uses recycled paper board and i recycle it right back....i even wash the containers and throw then back in the recyling bin.....and believe me i can be a tyrant about making people recycle!!!!
I love the pic....it does render me a bit creepy though.....but still awesome
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
it's a nice peace, but I think I enjoyed the philosophizing more
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
My Photo teacher told me I was "more a writer than an artist" or something like that (bad paraphrasing). I'm glad you dug it.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Om nom nom.
I love the waify legs and those hands that look as though they're being blown away just by the creature swinging its arms.
Gorgeous!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I dig the colors and composition of this.
As for the questions asked, I try to be moderate within reason. I eat meat, and I don't feel too guilty doing it because it's part of our design to eat meat, but that doesn't mean that I condone the horrible cruelty brought around by the huge corporate meat farms. I try to buy meat and dairy from local sources and local farms where the practice of raising animals is less business and more "these animals are taken care of until they're meat". I also like hunted meat, and I feel those animals have a better life than cows or chickens since they have a chance to run around and be free until they're eaten. I've talked to people who are way against hunting, but since humans have pushed the natural predators out of the area I feel that it's only right to replace their spot in the food chain and make sure the populations of the animals they would have fed on are kept in check. I've seen what happens to out of control deer populations and it is not a fate I would like (starvation, blue tick, overcrowding).
I have a huge respect for animals, but I also think it's part of our role in the food chain to eat them. Animals like pigs, cows, sheep, or all other forms of domesticated animals wouldn't be around if humans hadn't fostered them to be food. But that also doesn't mean I think they should be treated like crap until they're slaughtered. Veal isn't cool. Keeping chickens locked in a box with their beaks hacked off isn't cool either. Make sure they have a good life first.
I think the moral of the story is if you keep to small local sources and moderation there's really not much reason to feel guilty for eating it.
GOOD GOD I WROTE A BOOK. SORRY ABOUT SPEWING ALL MY VIEWS ON YOUR PICTURE HERE. D:
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
IT'S OKAY MAN. Your philosophy is good. It's true; we've screwed up the natural system so much (what with driving out non-human predators and cultivating homogeneous species who'd stand a snowball's chance in the wild) that, in an ecological way, it does do more good to eat the critters in moderation. I don't like to be one of those black/white "MEAT IS MURDER" people, and I can see what you mean and I respect your ideas. I'm not gonna change my lifestyle in the foreseeable future, but that doesn't mean I think yours is wrong.
OH. BUT NOW I'M GONNA THROW RED PAINT ON YOU. D:< JK JK.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
OMG HOW DARE YOU HAVE IDEAS THAT DIFFER FROM MINE. ):< WHAT IS THIS, SOME SORT OF SOCIETY THAT ENCOURAGES INDIVIDUAL THOUGHT AND PHILOSOPHIES? I DON'T THINK SO, MISSY.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
KORY GTFO MY INTERNET. DX< GRRR.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
This is so beautiful, I love how the sky gradients, and his feet are amazing. Good job!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thanks a bunch, dude.
YOUR AVATAR.
QUACK.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
(woah) I totally messed up on that italics thing, by the way...wasn't paying attention when I tried that annnd..obviously it's not how it was meant to be. UGH.
quite **** <- (that's what I meant to do. >.<
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
No worries. (You could probably construct a whole ASCII planet of my typos alone!)
Thanks a whole bunch, man. I'm not sure what else to say--you made me feel like a million beans. So thank you.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
good goddesses how you inspire me. 👍: 0 ⏩: 0
and this creature. it inspires me too.
your thoughts. I love reading what you think/write. very much.
and this is >i
carry on, dear...carry on.
While I can't seem to put things into words the way you can, I know what you're saying, or I think I do. I'm also listening to High Hopes by Pink Floyd, so that could be impacting my judgment, but whatever. And whether or not excessive philophizing is good for you or not, it's good for your watchers. :]
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I don't know, sometimes I think that all of this thinking is aging me prematurely, and I wonder if it really does anyone any good. BLAR. I think I need to just draw a happy chipmunk every once in a while, you know?
Regardless, I'm glad you like this and are interested in my prattling. Ya very kind, deah.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
There could be worse things to age you prematurely. ._. And it's not like you never draw anything uplifting or anything. You've got quite a diverse gallery.
Haha, I love prattling. Thanks for the toast, man. :3
👍: 0 ⏩: 0