History and Practical Tips We made history running the very first vegan group trip to Japan, and it was a huge success. (And then we ran a second right after!) While Buddhism-inspired vegetarianism has been part of the Japanese culture since around the 6th and 7th centuries, “veganism” as a concept is very new. In this first episode of what will be a podcast series, I provide a frame through which to understand the challenges and the threads of eating plant-based in Japan, including  the influence of Buddhism and other factors that resulted in a mostly plant-based culture for a good ..read more

The History of the Holy Knot The history of the delicious, soft, pillowy pretzel goes back hundreds of years and demonstrates once again that we have more food traditions that reflect abstaining from animal products than indulging in them. Take a listen to the Medieval origins of this food, how it saved a city, and why it’s associated with Easter. You Might Also Like The post Pretzels Were Made for Vegans (at Easter) appeared first on Colleen Patrick-Goudreau ..read more

Conditional compassion isn’t authentic compassion How many times have I heard compassionate people assert their compassion and in the same breath declare that some people don’t deserve it.  They might be referring to people whose politics they don’t share, people who have abused animals, people who have abused other people — or who people who have abused them. There is always someone for whom it is difficult (and feels impossible) to have compassion for.  But the reason we have trouble having compassion for people ..read more

LEARN TO PREVENT COMPASSION FATIGUE, CULTIVATE RESILIENCE, AVOID BURNOUT, AND PRACTICE SELF CARE …all while being an effective advocate and voice for animals. In our 3 hours together, we will be focusing on how a mindfulness and compassion practice can heal and prevent compassion fatigue, burnout, and empathic distress. If you missed the live event, for a limited time, you can receive the 3 hours of video presentations, plus reading materials and resources! Reviews of happy participants can be found here. PLEASE JOIN MY MAILING LIST FOR FUTURE EVENTS. YOU CAN ALSO PURCHASE MY EFFECTIVE CO ..read more

A Classic Mocktail with Quality Ingredients You know I love me my wine and whisky (Scotch in particular), but David and I have been immensely enjoying a little Dry January. My husband is a mixologist maven, and he’s proving that to be the case with the non-alcoholic concoctions he’s drumming up this month, including a favorite mocktail of mine from my childhood — from many of our childhoods: Shirley Temples! I’m happy to say this version is more sophisticated than the ones I grew up drinking, because it’s all about quality ingredients — like anything else. Of course, you can use whatever ..read more

Top 10 Films Watched in 2023 As usual, I’ve provided a synopsis of our Top 10 Films from 2023 — those ranked 8.0 and above — followed by a longer list of films we watched in general, along with the rating we gave them on a scale of 1-10 — 10 being the highest. While in previous years we ranked films 9.0 and above, this year, it wasn’t to be. There were some films we saw this year we wanted to like more, but in the end, they wound up on the bottom of our list — namely Napoleon, Tár, and The Whale. Some films were second- or third- viewings for me, such as A Room with a View, Pandora’s Box ..read more

Stop Doom-Scrolling and Start Joy-Browsing: Good News for Animals from 2023 WARNING: This podcast episode contains only good news! Despite the tragedies of 2023, there were also numerous reasons to celebrate. And I’m here to share some with you, especially as they relate to animals and nature. So, stop doom-scrolling and start joy-browsing as we explore some good-news stories from this past year. The term “doomscrolling” was coined in 2020 to describe the habit of compulsively consuming distressing news. Not surprisingly, research spanning several decades has consistently cautioned against th ..read more

A Theme of Africa, Animals, Faith, and Hope Looking back on this list, there’s quite an imbalance of fiction to nonfiction with only two novels making the cut. Even the books I was hoping to finish by the end of the year are nonfiction (Altruism by Mathieu Ricard and The Body by Bill Bryson — the illustrated hardcover for its amazing photos and illustrations.) Books about the history of the Congo are enough to bring you down, but I balanced it with some levity in Magnusson’s books, which were just okay but still delightful. I started off the year with Nick Cave’s book, and I plan to read it ag ..read more

Why I Still Care In this end-of-year episode, I reflect on how much easier it would be to not care — to choose convenience over compassion, to get what we want when we want it without having to think about the effects of our choices. I also share why I continue to make the choices I do, 24 years later.  The post It Would Be So Much Easier to Not Care appeared first on Colleen Patrick-Goudreau ..read more

LEARN TO PREVENT COMPASSION FATIGUE, CULTIVATE RESILIENCE, AVOID BURNOUT, AND PRACTICE SELF CARE …all while being an effective advocate and voice for animals. In our 3 hours together, we will be focusing on how a mindfulness and compassion practice can heal and prevent compassion fatigue, burnout, and empathic distress. REGISTER TODAY By the end of our 3-hour workshop, you will have learned: Practical strategies for cultivating a compassionate orientation to the world — one that looks through the lens of hope instead of despair and optimism instead of cynicism How to foster a commit ..read more