Hello fellow anthropocene victims. Written below is my most recent journal entry from after one of the classes group contemplative practices. Enjoy and good luck. When opening my eyes from my class’s most recent contemplative practice, I felt like I had been gone four hours. I almost could not remember anything I had even thought, but stuck with me was… Read more »
In the era on the Anthropocene, it seems natural to assign blame to certain countries or groups of people. It is easy to point the finger towards China, citing their 29.14 percent share of world carbon dioxide emissions in 2015, and also towards the 1 percent, presumably the people in control of the world’s largest fossil fuel companies (2). While… Read more »
Originally written Monday, 8:01am 10/23/2017 Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I get up between 7-7:30 to run to Gasworks park. On days when I’m feeling down or depressed, I’ll stop at the top of the hill and sit to focus on myself and my surroundings. Today was one of those days. I took a few deep breaths and calmed my… Read more »
I usually resist meditation and mindfulness practices. However, in the spirit of this course, I actively and wholeheartedly experimented with an independent contemplative practice. ~ The world of uncertainty offers little comfort, so I close my eyes. Neither to hide nor to escape, I look within so I can melt into the greatest reassurance of all: consciousness. In the midst… Read more »
The nature of the Anthropocene requires a problem-solving approach which addresses the world as a complex, interconnected system. Research over the previous decades has made it clear that no ecosystem, society, or geophysical process can operate in isolation, and many of the trends of the Anthropocene are interrelated. I understand that the actions of humanity are an increasingly dominant force… Read more »
Look past your thoughts so you may drink the pure nectar of this moment. -Rumi To live with OCD is to maintain a teeny metropolis within the mind. Imagine the microcosm as it hums: serving as my own groundskeeper, police officer, and newsboy, I ensure successful quotidian efficiency within this small system. The lawns, impeccable; the laws, abided by. Obsessive… Read more »
I’ll be honest- meditation is a fairly new concept in my life. I always found it odd and almost unsettling. The idea of a bunch of people sitting in a room, eyes closed, somehow reaching into a different mental dimension seemed out of touch to my scheme of how things were supposed to be. After starting this class, I realized… Read more »
While the distinctions between ‘apathy’ and ‘an overwhelming sensation of caring too much and having your mind shut down’ create different views of how humanity reacts, it still leaves us paralyzed. Emotions and action are still not happening whether it’s because they never existed or they were shut off or ignored. Either way, there’s no way to definitively prove the… Read more »
I’m not an individual who is terribly connected to my own spirituality and self-awareness. So when we started the contemplative practice portion of this class I was hopeful that this would be an enlightening and profound spiritual experience. Rather than achieving such metaphysical enlightenment, I have discovered more about my own physical limitations. In most of my classes I am… Read more »
I have often felt a feeling of resentment and frustration arise when meditating on the changes to my lifestyle that would be necessary to achieve a more sustainable future. A frustration fueled by comparison to those who came before me who were allowed to live their lives without the level of thought and responsibility as our generation must have. A… Read more »
