Enjoying a vegan lifestyle for some, and for me in particular, is about a commitment to living as joyfully and healthfully as I can while causing the least amount of suffering possible. To ensure that my behaviors align with that commitment I select actions that inflict as little direct harm as possible and generally protect the other beings with whom I share our planet. That means that:

• I do not hunt or fish for sport or for sustenance. It does not mean that I attempt to stop the heron near the river from consuming the fish and frogs that are his sustenance.
• I do not use kill traps or poisons to remove the mouse from my basement. It does not mean that I attempt to prohibit the owl from eating the mouse when he is removed to the yard.
• I do not eat or consume goods produced by the agricultural cultivation of animals. It does not mean that I walk through the woods knocking down each spider web I find to prevent the spiders from systematically trapping and consuming their prey.

Keeping in mind that it is impossible to live completely harm-free, staying aware of my actions and questioning those that feel poorly aligned with the aforementioned commitment results in a stress-free and enjoyable existence.

Importantly, it is easy for me to imagine that each person and being I have the pleasure of meeting is also interested in the goal of living joyfully and is on the journey to accomplishing that. Would my uninvited intervention in their behavior interfere with that journey? Most often it feels like that it would and the resulting stress would be an indication that there is a lack of alignment between my actions and my commitment.

There is, in my opinion, value in doing as little harm as is possible . What is possible and what is not can only be determined by the being for whom the question is being considered. Predator animals, consciously or otherwise, tend not to cause more harm than is necessary for their survival - which seems to be the equivalent of causing as little harm as is possible for them.