INTERVIEW BY SARAH ROSE FOR THE MDM WONDERLANCE
On June 3, a hot sunny day, I was taking the train to go to the Dalai Lama’s birthday event held at the Peace Garden in London. The Dalai Lama himself wasn’t going to be there, but the lovely best seller author Isabel Losada was. Behind a tastefully decorated stall covered with colourful homemade cupcakes and copies of her books The Battersea Park Road to Enlightenment; For Tibet, with Love; and Men! , she kindly granted me an interview:
SR: Hi Isabel, I see you're not wearing a parachute today! How's that?
IL: Ah, I’m so glad you noticed that. I’ve learnt to live in freefall. No parachute, no safety net, no-one to catch me. It’s a scary way to live but it’s exciting. After all none of us know when we’re going to die do we?
SR: You have inspired many people including myself to stop eating animals. Can you tell us a little about what motivated you at first?
IL: I have been vegetarian for about 10 years. It happened in stages – first I gave up red meat, then white meat, then fish. I have never liked to see anything on my plate that is either an entire creature that should have a lift of its own – or part of the flesh of a creature.
Recently I watched the documentary ‘Earthlings’ (whilst sobbing – it’s impossible not to) and it’s made me more radically against the levels of suffering that we inflict on animals. I think that, perhaps like many, I was in denial about what we do to animals and the insanity of it. Dogs we buy fluffy collars for, pigs we put in pens, force feed, and then kill. It’s another example of our insanity as a society. I have begun to see meat eating the way I used to see smoking as something that is bad for you and inexcusable. A ‘ham’ roll is made of dead pig flesh and a pig was raised, usually in terrible conditions and then, having had no quality of life, slaughtered. Most people would choose hummus instead if they had to kill the pig themselves – but they ignore this fact. As long as someone else does the killing it’s OK? This is just not logical or ethical and those of us that try to have any understanding of the interconnected nature of things can surely not add to the suffering on the planet by eating meat.
If people you love eat meat I’d be worried about them. It’s full of growth hormones, (you don’t want to think about what the animals are fed) and less meat eaters means the fairer distribution of food on the planet. It makes sense to me on every level. The V sign (‘suitable for vegetarians’) is a good piece of communication on fb as you will soon be able to see who is vegetarian and who is not. Annoyingly fb won’t let me have one on the author page as it counts as a symbol but I have one on my personal page.
If you are vegetarian and have a partner that isn’t – then when you’re in London take them to Tibits Or for a really special treat SAF. Meanwhile the trick of loving your vegetarian food is to buy the most amazing selection of organic vegetables possible and get creative. Much better for you. And the planet. And the animals.
SR: You're so close to your public and you always answer to all your fans' questions on Facebook. You even advertised on Gumtree to find a new tenant to share your house. I heard that a man has been brave enough to come and live with the author of 'Men!' and two other lovely ladies that share your house. Has he been doing well so far?
IL: Yes – My life is an open book. I love Facebook. I wrote a blog for two years but I hated it because it was all about me. What I love about Facebook is having a real sense of who my readers are, knowing what they are doing with their lives and the opportunity to ask advice. It’s a genuine communication.
We are 3 women living in the house so I particularly wanted a male lodger. Too many women in one house is never a good idea. So far he’s coping very well. He moved in with his own Espresso machine so he instantly made himself very popular. If you find the right person then having a lodger in the house can be a good way to supplement your income.
SR: Can you tell us about the "Ask for What You Want" game that you write about in 'The Battersea Park Road to Englightment'?
IL: In chapter one of ‘The Battersea Park Road to Enlightenment’ I take a seminar called "Insight" – in it there is a game called "Ask for What You Want" which is a powerful tip for life. Often (especially in relationship) we expect others to know what we want (women are especially bad at expecting their men to be psychic) and sometimes just asking works wonders. So the point of "Ask for What You Want Wednesday" that I created on my Facebook page is to practise the art of asking. People often need to learn how to ask – to be specific and to not be afraid to ask for something if they think they are going to get ‘no’ for an answer. Just asking – can be huge. After all if someone says ‘No’ you can always ask someone else.
