Articles Reflecting a Vegan Lifestyle used with permission from All-Creatures.org

Rev. Dina A. Miani Lauman shares how, through compassionate veganism, we can reclaim the empathy and connectedness to other creatures that we were all born with but that our culture has caused us to forget.

Compassionate Veganism: How to Find the Truth Within You
From Rev. Dina A. Miani Lauman, VLCE, Ordained Animal Chaplain, Main Street Vegan Academy, MainStreetVegan.com
October 2025

Photo from Canva

Originally printed in the Main Street Vegan blog, MainStreetVegan.com.

There’s a moment in the film Hook when Wendy Darling looks into the eyes of a grown-up Peter Pan, now a jaded corporate lawyer who has forgotten his magic. She opens a book to the illustration of Peter in flight and whispers:

“Peter, don’t you know who you are?”

Something stirs in him. A remembering. A reclaiming. A quiet but unstoppable awakening of the truth that had been buried beneath years of conditioning.

In many ways, compassionate veganism is a similar kind of remembering.

The Innocence We Begin With

We are not born disconnected. We arrive in this world wide-eyed, heart-forward, full of wonder at every creature we encounter. Children don’t need to be taught that a cow deserves care, that a pig wants to live, or that a lamb seeks comfort. They reach out with open hands, not with judgment, but with joy.

And then something happens.

The world begins to tell us otherwise. We absorb the silent curriculum of our culture: this animal is “food,” this one is “friend.” This body is yours to love; that one is yours to use. Messages come from everywhere—advertising, tradition, even casual conversation—that invite us not to feel so deeply.

That’s why compassionate veganism is so radical—it interrupts that narrative and invites us to feel again.

Unlearning the Numbness

It reminds me of those old Palmolive commercials where Madge the manicurist tells women not to worry, that even while scrubbing dishes with harsh soap, their hands will be “softened.” As if the problem wasn’t why we were hurting in the first place, but simply how to continue without feeling the pain. Conditioned comfort over awakening truth.

Veganism interrupts that narrative.

Compassionate Veganism doesn’t make us something new—it brings us back to something eternal. Vegan trailblazers like Victoria Moran, Albert Schweitzer, Gandhi, Thich Nhat Hanh, and modern sanctuaries of compassion remind us that love in action is not naive, it is revolutionary.

The Moment of Remembering Compassionate Veganism

The first time I held a rescued chicken at a sanctuary, she settled into the cradle of my arms, her heartbeat pulsing against my palm. I felt the rise of her warm breath, a soft exhale that sounded almost like a sigh of trust. No transaction. No agenda. Just presence. In that moment, it wasn’t that I suddenly became more compassionate. It was that I remembered: Oh. This is who I’ve always been.

Like Peter Pan rediscovering flight, compassionate veganism invites us to reclaim the parts of ourselves that believed in magic, in justice, in tenderness without apology. It’s not about perfection. It’s about alignment—walking closer to the person our soul believes we can be.

Strength in Softness

The world may call this softness. But as Victoria Moran often says, “Compassion is strong.” It takes courage to feel in a world that rewards numbness. It takes spiritual clarity to let your heart break open instead of shut down. It takes soul maturity to see every being as a “thou” and not an “it”—to say with our lives, I remember who I am, and because of that, I see who you are too.

This is the essence of compassionate veganism—strength through empathy, power through love.

Who We Truly Are

So let us ask ourselves, gently and honestly:

Don’t you know who you are?

• The one whose spirit aches at suffering.


• The one who feels joy watching a rescued hen stretch her wings.


• The one whose heart recognizes another heart, no matter the species.

Compassionate veganism is not merely a lifestyle. It is a return to original compassion, a homecoming. A remembering.

Living in Alignment: Compassionate Veganism

As you read this, perhaps take a breath. Place a hand on your heart. Whisper to yourself, with kindness: “I remember. I am compassion. I am here to live in alignment.”

And if your heart wants company on this path—know that you are not alone. There is a growing, shimmering circle of us remembering together through compassionate veganism and sacred care for all beings.

With care and solidarity

By Rev. Dina Miani Lauman, trained and certified as a vegan lifestyle coach and educator by Main Street Vegan Academy, www.MainStreetVegan.com

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Rev. Dina Miani Lauman is the founder of the WellBeing, a sanctuary for vegan Christians and spiritual seekers. An Ordained Minister in the United Church of Christ and an Ordained Animal Chaplain through the Compassion Consortium, she serves where faith, compassion, and Creation meet.

Dina integrates plant-based living with spiritual and emotional healing as a Main Street Vegan Academy Vegan Lifestyle Coach and Educator. As a narrative experiential practitioner and counselor, she helps clients reconnect with their stories and embodied wisdom—guiding them toward wholeness, wonder, and thriving. She also loves Disney Magic and will meet you there to explore possibilities and imagination.

Dina pastors a charming country church in Northern Illinois, where she integrates spirituality and psychology into her ministry. Her congregation is one of a kind, with cherished therapy dog and beloved church member Queenie, reflecting a deep commitment to interspecies compassion and inclusion.

Let’s stay connected in compassion.

Photo credit: Dina A. Miani Lauman

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Posted on All-Creatures: December 3, 2025
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