Today we’d like to introduce you to Martina Mitchell.
Hi Martina, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Well, it all started with a diagnosis and blossomed from there. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I made a decision that I never wanted to feel that way again, and that’s where my journey began.
On May 1, 2021, I made the decision to go plant-based. I had watched the documentary Forks Over Knives, and it completely changed the way I looked at what I ate, how it affected my health, and ultimately how I felt. A few months later, I watched Eating Our Way to Extinction, and my perspective expanded beyond my own health. I went vegan, and I’ve been evolving ever since.
Around that time, I created an Instagram account simply to inspire people to eat more plants. It started as Martina’s Marvelous Mess, then morphed into Tender Luvin Vegan, then Healing Herbivore, and finally became The Compassion Collective. Looking back, I realize those names tell the story of my own evolution.
The Compassion Collective is what I now want to offer to the world: a way of exploring what it means to live compassionately. Whether that’s through what’s on your plate, what’s in your closet, what you purchase, how you treat animals, the planet and other people, and something I’ve been learning much more recently: how you treat yourself.
Compassion must include the self.
I’ve always had a huge space in my heart for animals, but after I stopped eating them, my whole world changed. Compassion has always been at the heart of who I am, but I feel like I’m finally becoming fully aligned with what that word actually means.
I’m not here to force anyone to believe what I believe or eat the way I eat. I’m here to share. Share my story. Share my struggles. Share my compassion. Share what has helped me get to where I am today.
My goal is simply to help as many humans, animals, and this planet as I possibly can. Maybe that happens because someone reads something I wrote on Instagram and feels less alone. Maybe it’s sharing a plant-based recipe, giving someone a hug when they need one, helping a friend, helping a stranger, or speaking up for an animal who cannot speak for themselves. To me, it all stems from compassion.
I feel that the world we’re living in has become increasingly disconnected from one another, from animals, from the planet, and even from ourselves. I don’t believe it’s supposed to be this way. We are meant to live in greater harmony with one another.
Underneath the trauma, the pain, the heartache, the different religions, the color of our skin, and whether a being has two legs, four legs, fur, scales, or feathers, we are all living beings sharing this planet.
We all have hearts, and sometimes I think we’ve forgotten how to use them.
That is why I created The Compassion Collective.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Absolutely NOT!!! Haha. I have to laugh because it’s healthy to laugh at yourself, right?
This has definitely not been a smooth road, but it has been incredibly worth it.
When I first chose this path, excuse me, when this path chose me, I felt incredibly lonely. I had no vegan friends. I ate differently from everyone around me, and my beliefs no longer aligned with many of the people in my circle.
That journey also made me question what compassion really means. It’s one thing to believe in compassion, but do we act on it? Do we speak up for those who don’t have a voice? And perhaps just as importantly, do we speak up for ourselves?
That last one has been a big lesson for me. For much of my life, and sometimes I don’t like admitting this, I was a people pleaser. Recovering people pleaser, perhaps. Give or take. Haha.
I’ve had to learn how to set boundaries instead of allowing others to take advantage of my kindness. I’ve learned to say no when there is simply too much on my plate. Do you know how difficult saying no is for a former people-pleaser? It’s like pulling teeth! But learning to say no when I need to fill my own cup has brought tremendous healing and growth into my life.
Another challenge has been navigating veganism in a world where it isn’t always understood. Sometimes someone lovingly offers me a meal or dish that isn’t vegan, and I see the disappointment when I decline. That can be difficult because my choice has nothing to do with rejecting that person or their kindness. For me, it’s about the living being I have chosen not to consume. It comes down to my morals and ethics and my commitment to causing as little harm as I reasonably can.
It took me a long time to fully face what that meant. I think part of me was afraid of knowing the truth because witnessing suffering, whether human or animal, affects me deeply. Knowing how much suffering exists in this world can sometimes feel like too much for one heart to carry.
But I continue because it’s hard.
If I am the only person in a room choosing to show compassion toward a human, an animal, or even myself, then so be it. Life is simply too short to be anything less.
One of the hardest things for me is when I show someone kindness and they respond, “There are still good people in the world.” That statement always breaks my heart a little because kindness shouldn’t feel rare.
I may not be able to change the entire world, but I can help create the kind of world I wish to live in: a kinder, more loving, compassionate world.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’ve had many jobs throughout my life, but I keep returning to the one that allows me to give from the heart. I am a nursing assistant and caregiver, helping others with their daily needs. I’ve worked in home health care, assisted living facilities, and rehabilitation facilities. I received my training through the American Red Cross, and I truly love what I do.
Circling back to compassion for the self, I’ve learned that without having compassion for myself, I wouldn’t be able to thrive as much as I do while caring for others. You cannot continually pour from yourself without eventually needing to pour some of that love back in. Compassion includes the self as well as others, and that has been one of my biggest life lessons.
I created The Compassion Collective in hopes of spreading the message of a kinder, more compassionate world. Whether it stays as it is today or grows into something much bigger, only time will tell. I’m allowing it to evolve naturally, just as I have.
I’m proud of the woman I was, the woman I’ve become, and the woman I’m still evolving into. The woman I am today finally includes herself in that circle of compassion, whereas before, so much of it was given to everyone but myself.
I’m also incredibly proud of the work I’ve done volunteering with Cat’s Angels in Fernandina Beach, Florida. I’m grateful for the volunteers I worked alongside and for every kitty I had the privilege of loving, feeding, rehabilitating, and helping heal.
One of those cats was my precious Perry. He was a severe case of FIP, a serious disease in cats, and it took tremendous care and love from the volunteers and myself to help nurse him back to health. Today, he is happy, healthy, thriving, and I adopted him. He became part of my own story of compassion.
Everyone has their strengths, and mine is kindness. Mine is compassion. I don’t just think about the word compassion, I try to live it. I embody it. I breathe it. It has been part of who I am since I was a tiny lady, long before I ever had a name for it.
Now, I simply choose to share it with others every day because that’s who I am.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
I believe that just about covers it! I’d just like to say how honored I am to be a part of your magazine and to be featured here.
If there’s one thing I want to leave with your readers, it’s this: no matter how difficult, challenging, or lonely something feels, know that somewhere out there, someone is going through or has been through something similar. You are never as alone as you may feel.
Life gets challenging. Life gets difficult. And I believe it’s those challenges that help us grow into who we are meant to become.
An easy life? No, I don’t want that.
I came here to grow. To expand. To evolve. To spread love. To spread kindness. To spread compassion to as many people and living beings as I possibly can.
There is a lot of change I wish to see on this planet, and I’ve learned that change starts with me and with you.
Oh, and one last thing…
Remember to enjoy your life, beautiful people.
Mwuah!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecompassion.collective/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/martina.mitchell.73
