Ignorance is bliss

My mind sometimes sends me into crisis.  Often about the state of the planet.

I saw a doco last night - an excellent fillum called "The Cove."  About a little-known practice happening in a small hidden cove in Japan - where they trap dolphins (to the tune of 23,000 each year), then select a few that they will train to do tricks for ocean theme parks.  Trained dolphins sell for about US$150,000 each.  The ones that aren't selected for training are killed and their meat sold.  The water goes a lovely bright red.

Now this just totally sucks.  Dolphins like to swim many kilometres a day, so despite all their flipping and jumping and the permanent smiles on their lovely noses, they are inherently unhappy in oceanic theme parks.  Did you know that the dolphin who played Flipper committed suicide?  She stopped breathing on purpose. She missed her freedom.  Her trainer was the driving force behind "The Cove" and has been trying to set dolphins free ever since Flipper took her last breath  in his arms 20 years ago.

And dolphins don't need to be killed for their meat.  Their meat is FULL of mercury because of  what's gone on since the industrial revolution, so it's highly toxic to humans and tends to cause all sorts of deformities and birth defects.

And the ocean NEEDS her dolphins.  She can't afford to be losing all the fish and whales and dolphins, which is what is happening, and calamity is predicted if things don't change.

So my mind starts to worry and I make a list of what I could DO to help stop all the disasters in the world:

1. Not worry.  Worrying doesn't help and peace begets peace.  But unfortunately, worrying is one of the things I find easiest to do.
2. Pray.  I can do that.  But what to say?.... "Help!"  But that desperate cry for help tends to go against number 1, not worrying.
3. Relax and meditate.  Now that's a good one.  Peace begets peace etc.  Requires a little more effort and commitment, which makes it more difficult than number 1 or 2 on the list.
4. Become a vegetarian.  I don't eat much meat anyway...  But even eating a little helps to perpetuate what we are doing to our oceans and in our factory farms.  But what about iron and omega oils?  So this leads me to number 5...
5. Become a kangatarian.  'Roo meat is all free range and organic, and has masses of iron.  It also grows naturally in my country, and it doesn't wear the soil/earth down like sheep and cattle do.  It can be a bit gamey sometimes, but maybe I can master the art of cooking it.  Mind you, perhaps I should change this one to "only eat free range, organic meat."  That would be easier.  I could perhaps tackle vegetarianism at a later date?
6. Not worry.  If you suffer a little because you don't have enough omega oils (ie, just the ones that you can't get from chia or flax seeds), it ain't the end of the world.  Many people and species suffer WAY more than you, so chillax Linda J.

I wonder if putting things in a list on my blog means that I have to do them.  Will I take smoked salmon off my shopping list?  And replace it with roo sausages?  I feel like I have to try.  I'm not an activist, but I don't want to be an inactivist either.

I'm really glad the fillum got an Academy Award for best doco in 2010.