A drizzly day came in early December when eight people rose to do something different. “Solar Powered” aimed to generate sweat—perspiration as lubrication for social advocacy. It was a yoga & dance party aimed to empower people in light of dismal climate change facts; we wanted to discuss agency in a positive setting. I worked on the basic logistics of event-planning (décor, food sponsors, posters, securing a yogi), composing more than 50 emails in the process.
Our team placed great faith in the collective; the ostensible success of our project was contingent upon the community’s response. If nobody showed: were we S.O.L. (that’s a euphemistic acronym, not the Spanish word for “sun”).
Foucault said, “Losing is an art, it inspires a new quality of attention.” (Hawkins 123).
Did we lose? Trump might call us “losers”—we didn’t fix global warming nor get a chance to dance. Was it all a loss? No! Everyone who saw our invitation has now read the word “Anthropocene”—itself a spark. Worthy of a back-pat, we were able to conceive of and follow through with the event without abandoning initial goals. We received generous vendor donations, designed a petroleum” arts project, secured a venue with capacity to host, entertain, and stretch 100 attendees. All on a budget of less than 25 bucks!
So much change hinges upon a person’s willingness to interrupt her routine. To be human in the Anthropocene is, ultimately, about sacrifice.
Yes, free coffee and ripe bananas were promised, but the pillow doth beckon. Such sleepy indifference is apt: until we’re forced to act, we’ll likely remain snug in our comfort zones. I, too, am guilty of succumbing to slumber.
Just as Icarus flew too close to the sun, so did I scald my self-made waxwings. Stress and sleep loss caught up with me so that on December 2nd I woke not at a crisp 7, but rather a slothful 8. It was, as they say, a “worst-case scenario.” Burnout occurs. And it’s appropriate to discuss it here, vis-à-vis “Solar Powered. I am indebted to the work of my teammates: our system adapted to my negative feedback.
With yoga and movement, we prepare. Prepare for what? For life. For that worst- (or best-) case scenario. We ready our minds and bodies for the totality of possibilities.
A fourth group member, tasked with advertising (be it Facebook reminders, printing posters, gauging interest) would’ve been the ideal complement to our trio. In hindsight, we should’ve held the event at 10 AM, having established more buzz beforehand. Still, as this photo of yogis can attest: “small is beautiful” –E.F. Schumacher (Litfin 157).
Hawkins, Gay. The Ethics of Waste: How We Relate to Rubbish. Rowman and Littlefield, 2006.
Litfin, Karen. “Localism.” Critical Environmental Politics (ed: Carl Death). Routledge, 2014.