By Owen DeArmond-MacLeod My group action project, hosting a discussion forum on circular economy, both exposed me to circular economy as a concept and was logistically an exercise in systemic thinking. To prepare for our forum we created brochures and posters, compiling the research we did on the pros and cons of circular economy. In addition to the research we… Read more »
Pedro Ramos 3/4/19 POL 301 Third Blog Post Generally, the contemplative practices hold little meaning to me, but one that stood out was when we talked about where we are from. It was interesting to see how many people in our class have different backgrounds and it puts into perspective just how diverse America is. It shows how embracing… Read more »
I’d like to talk generally about the contemplative practices that we’ve been engaging in since the beginning of the quarter. To be quite honest, after the first contemplative practice, I felt awkward, confused, and a bit out of place. The idea of being in a vulnerable state with the lights off and with complete silence in an environment where I… Read more »
In her poem “Kindness”, Naomi Shihab Nye writes:“Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,You must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.…Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness,you must travel where the Indian in a white poncholies dead by the side of the road.You must see how this could be you,”. Professor Litfin, as she read the… Read more »
From the very beginning of our class, I still vaguely remember our first contemplative practice when Professor Liften made us to think about the world in a system way. Sitting in a dark room with a bunch of strangers, and the only voice we can hear was our Professor. Even then, not knowing any of my classmates, I was able… Read more »
Contemplative practices. Before this class I had heard of contemplative practices and mindfulness and had attempted to make them a habit but never could stick with it. During the first couple of weeks I felt like I had all those years ago; super confused. I felt really awkward and uncomfortable, sitting in silence only amplified that. Well almost silent. Professor… Read more »
Before I took this class, the term contemplative practice was not anything new to me. I used to devote half an hour of my time for my modern dance class every day. I found it boring and time-consuming because I cannot find any purpose for such practice than just laying down next to a bunch of strangers in bright daylight…. Read more »
Contemplative practices can act as a way of reorienting our connection to the world. Personally, there is a very real sense of calmness and connectedness I feel during contemplative practices, and I believe this is because contemplative practices help re-center the individual within time and living systems. This centering allows for a new and more inspired appraisal and approach to… Read more »
By Owen DeArmond-MacLeod The contemplative practices in this course have allowed me to digest the readings on a more personal level than in other similar courses that do not have the meditation component. Typically when doing discussions I spend most of my time listening and thinking to the other student’s contributions and coming up with something to say that adds… 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 »