Contemplative practices- a type of meditation, that allows our minds to clear, relax, and better understand ourselves and our reality. I was particularly consumed by a contemplative exercise we had practiced on February 21st, one concerning anxiety and relaxation. Everyone experiences anxiety to some extent; universally anxiety is a defense mechanism, it would be more concerning if one were never… Read more »
One contemplative practice in particular that spoke to me regarded the senses, and how significant the luxury of sensory of perception is. As babies, we are constantly making brand new connections through our explorations of the world and organisms around us. But, as we age, these connections have already been discovered, so naturally we lose consciousness of our body’s experience… Read more »
I have been thinking a lot about how our lifestyles and the way society works affects the environment, and I think it is especially true that the fast-paced nature of our lives is a huge contributing factor to the amount of plastic that is clogging our oceans. It is a really interesting point that humans have such a tunnel vision… Read more »
One of the main points in this post is that there is no clear answer to stop pollution, but that one of the things we can do is educate people. I firmly agree with this point. Obviously teaching people about global warming will not stop it from occurring but it may influence people to at least not further the problem… Read more »
Re-published Feb. 21, 2019 after removal during blog outage. In his article The Big Picture, Richard Heinberg claims, “Once solving problems requires too much perceived sacrifice, the only realistic ways to deal with them are to deny their existence or to blame others for them.” Denial – refusal to acknowledge the impending ecological collapse of civilized society – is the cornerstone of modern environmental politics. Most importantly, there… Read more »
The city of Seattle is currently experiencing the largest snowfall in seventy years. Grocery stores have been cleared out, buses have stopped running, and schools are closed. Stuck inside my apartment watching the snow accumulate, I can’t help but feel powerless. Not just powerless in my day to day life, but powerless to influence the world around me. Watching cars… Read more »
Soy can be found in many forms: as edamame, miso, tofu, soymilk, soy sauce, or as one of the many alternatives to meat. In 2018 alone over 360 million metric tons of soybeans were produced (SOPA), but the product is criticized for a spectrum of issues, from being the leading cause of destruction of tropical rainforests, to the rumor of… Read more »
I was intrigued by the stance that Justin took in his article on modern climate change denial. I was able to reflect upon the Donald Trump Demagogue reading and expand on his claims. The denial of climate change has a greater cost than just “climate-change debit” or a feeling of depression, it becomes costly in terms of repairing damages of… Read more »
Response to: https://courses.washington.edu/ps301a2019w/imagery-of-extinction/ The hell of nuclear war conjures up vivid images of mushroom clouds, vast military power, horrific death, pain, and suffering. When we imagine the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we imagine the destroyed buildings, massive death toll, and people ill from radiation poisoning. It tugs at our existential fears: life, death, suffering, control, and more. For me,… Read more »
My first question is whether blaming others is the same as denial because blame seems to be branched under the umbrella of denial as a ‘cornerstone of modern environmental politics’. While a Marco Rubio-type will carefully convey that they refuse ‘to acknowledge the impending ecological collapse of civilized society’, Patagonia and Chipotle, among others, do not seem to deny this… Read more »