All Lives Are Matter

Some people think that it is impossible to have a just and peaceful world without honouring all life by making all life matter.

This is because they feel that no life is free until all life is free.

I try to practice that in my own life by seeing the spark that I have within me, in every other life form. 

We are the same.

We all just want to be free.

Freedom consists of three main principles:

1) The absence of coercion or restraint.

2) The absence of physical constraints in natural conditions.

3) The possession of the means to achieve the objective one chooses of one’s own volition.

Here is my in-home protocol to live and let live.

* If it is a small to medium spider - enjoy observing it going about its day. Thank it for its service.

* If it is a large spider - catch and release in the garage or outside. Thank it for its service.

* If it is a ladybug - get a tiny piece of apple or raisin, give it to the visitor, then observe it going about its cute, little, business. If it is still around in the spring, take it out to the garden.

* If it flies - hustle it out the nearest door or window.

* If it has too many legs to count and moves fast - try not to freak out, catch and release outside. Or miss, and watch it scuttle under the baseboard and disappear. Again, try not to freak out. Try not to think about it.

I feel bad when I kill, or cause killing on my behalf. The life form subjected to death does not matter. 

It is the Jain in me that knows that "the function of our souls is to help one another".

All lives are sacred. (Even ticks and mosquitos... I guess. No one said this would be easy.)

All lives matter. (And as scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson points out, "All lives are matter.")

All lives. 

Until all lives are free, no lives are free.