There is no question in my mind that our political system is fragmented, distorted, and dysfunctional in more ways that can ever be understood from the outside looking in. However, as Senator Jeff Flake put it, “this spell will eventually break.” I commend Senator Flake for the optimism he so wholeheartedly and level-headedly iterated in his speech on the senate… Read more »
I’ve always been aware that no one being solely impacts itself. Yet, I was ignorant of how interconnected our earth is. I once thought of the world as being a collection of groups, a colony of independent systems. Each system having its own interplay of threads, one may be pulled, and somewhere within the system, that tug has an effect…. Read more »
ksarverComments Off on The Prison of the Anthropocene
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 »
johnk21Comments Off on Brotherism: An Escape From Consumerism?
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 »
SashaComments Off on ‘The Myth of Apathy’ and the Importance of Trust
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 »
