I said no to the panel. Then I kicked myself in the ass.

My friend Janice Taitel has curated a second installment of her show, “Like A Dog: A Look at Selective Compassion. This one is at Hi-Desert Artists gallery in Yucca Valley. The opening reception is July 18, and it runs through August 10. There are a few special events attached. One is a compassion panel on July 23, and I’ll be participating as a vegan advocate.

During the opening night reception at the first show, held at the Beatnik in Joshua Tree in May, I led a thought experiment called “Somebody, something.” I invited gallery guests to sit with me and led them through an exercise comparing how and why we love dogs but eat pigs. This lesson in selective compassion brought up the expected motivators and arguments, like habit, tradition, culture, exposure, societal pressure, freedom, finances, and a whole lot of health concerns and confounding challenges. But I believe it got people thinking more than they had been when they stepped in the door.

When Janice asked me to be on the panel, my initial reaction was, “nope.” It sounds scary as hell. Public speaking, an audience, self-consciousness and a minority opinion, all that stuff.

But then I remembered why I do anything for animals: They have no voice, people don’t see them, and I am compelled to speak up. As an advocate, I don’t ever want to miss an opportunity to share my belief in animal rights for the purpose of changing their plight.

So I said yes.

Then I started thinking hard about the subject of the discussion.

Is it an emotion, a feeling, a value, a personality trait, a skill?

Can compassion be taught and learned, or are you born with it? Are some people born with more or less capacity? What do mirror neurons have to do with it, and can culture/exposure override them?

What is compassion without action?

Why do some people act and others don’t, given the same pull toward helping?

I also realized that being vegan, for me, has nothing to do with compassion anyway. Rather, it is an ethical or moral inner KNOWING that encompasses all, is inviolate, immutable, non-negotiable. And that is a strange thing to admit right before walking onto a panel about compassion.

So then I said no. I said I can’t do it because I don’t know enough and I feel too vulnerable.

Then I kicked myself in the ass. Ultimately I changed my mind one more time, and I am doing it. I may or may not land with some answers; likely I’ll pose more questions. If you’re local, I hope you’ll come out to support and join the discussion, plus experience the art show. I’d love to hear your thoughts surrounding the concept of compassion. You can write to me at allie.irwin@gmail.com.