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3/3/09
I have been thinking a lot lately about my life in relation to the world circle/context. I guess this is pretty normal for me, so don’t be alarmed.
I guess I have been having some difficulty locating my social niche… my calling… my identity… (Maybe we can talk about that later, but right now I got a theory I want to hook you up with).
So this thinking I’ve been doing has manifested itself into a theory as of a short while. I don’t really have a very good name for it yet, so I gave it a somewhat sci-fi/theory-sounding name, just so people would halfway take me seriously.
Hence;
ZACK’S TIME-WAVE THEORY, aka “Slow Time Theory”
My theory pretty much goes like this:
As you can see, we have our variables: time as our X-axis (independent variable) and happiness/fulfillment as our Y-axis (dependent variable). By time, I mean the distance between two events in history, typically measured between sun up and sun down, etc. Obviously, this is our independent variable because time is constant… there are (almost) always 60 seconds in minute, 24 hrs in a day, etc., and time is even and ongoing (although I’ll explain why I think time slows down soon), thus independent of most actions.
By happiness/fulfillment, I mean the things that make you feel good, the times where you feel like you’re in the right place “in time” (thus the dependent variable) within yourself within the universe within that universe and so on. This happiness/fulfillment often is achieved through significant relationships, formed memories, accomplishment, whatever.
Ok, so I make the assumption that there are some people (arguably most people in our nation’s popular culture) that coast through life, i.e. they do what they’re expected to do, and they typically don’t take very many risks, nor make any significant change within their environment. I refer to these people as “zombies” or “robots” because they aren’t really emotionally conscious to the world around them. The zombies have more rounded curves to their wave because they expend a lot of time but only with gradual fulfillment because they’re usually not very provocative or adventurous by choice. Eventually, I’d argue that these people don’t have as much fulfillment because they never fully realize their inner identity and don’t get to live out their individual dreams.
On the other hand, you have the people who are the change agents, the leaders, the heroes/heroines, the risk-takers, the storytellers, etc. These people acknowledge that it’s a shame to take life for granted. These people put life in overdrive as they experience many different settings, events, and relationships because they seek the most out of life. In doing so, these people raise/drop their fulfillment in high doses in short amounts of time, creating growth, which is the distance between happiness levels between a given set of events. While time doesn’t actually slow down, but relatively speaking, the mind feels like time slows down because the person is gaining all this experience, excitement, and enlightenment at once, All in all, people who experience more growth throughout life will leave behind a greater knowledge for the future of humanity.
Women & Environmentalism:
So what does this theory have to do with my project & post this week??? (I was wondering the same thing myself at this point). Well, if this theory is transformed into a living philosophy, then it would stipulate that people are better off making full use of their time on earth. In my mind, I equivocate that to improving humanity, i.e. being an activist. Important note: Since I’ve adopted this philosophy, I have obtained a sense of achievement from my campus activism in such a more meaningful way. In fact, I have such strong feelings now toward my project and doing the best that I, as one person, can possibly do, that I now feel like any ignorance or inaction toward an educative situation or Samaritan service is an injustice.
“Don’t hold yourself back, act.” That’s what your opportunity on Earth presents. One of my friends once said to me, “Time is the commodity of life.” If we conceptualize time as a resource in which we can exchange for the expression of ourselves with our minds and actions, then that’s the ultimatum of self-actualization (Which Maslow advocates for his top level of his “hierarchy of needs”).
Thus, with all of that in mind, here’s what I say:
I say do what you’ve always wanted to do. I say stand up for what you believe in. I say it’s time to stop what you’re doing, and make a difference in the world (unless that’s what you’re already doing). I say stop being a zombie; stop poisoning your mind with entertainment television and meaningless social norms. I say take a risk. I say what Gandhi said, “be the change you wish to see in the world.”
Project Status Report:
– I have been meeting with a couple of committees on campus to create better environmental policy. The Recycling Advisory Committee has been active in managing our first ever entry into Recyclemania, a national recycling competition between universities, which I lobbied hard for earlier in the year. So far, the committee has been very successful in running a good recycling effort.
– The Bike committee I’m serving on just had the pleasure of meeting with Bruce Shubert, K-State’s Vice President of Administration and Finance, negotiating with him on a proposal to increase bicycle parking spaces both by adding more bicycle racks and enforcing the abandoned bike policy. Dr. Shubert was very receptive of our plea and surprisingly, endorsed our agency.
– I received an appointment to the KSU Sustainability Task Force. For the next few months, I will be meeting with other key players on campus, including faculty, administrators, and fellow students to create a long-term strategic plan for sustainability for incoming K-State President, Dr. Kirk Schultz. I foresee this task force an important effect of current high energy on campus around environmental change as well as a potential milestone for K-State environmental sustainability.
I’ve started conjuring up some big plans for my rogue activism*.
1) Earth Day will be big, mark my words. In less than a month in a half, I will organize one of the biggest exhibitions of teamwork, progressivism, and student power that this campus has seen in a long while. Ideas of a celebration or rally come to mind… complete with a stage powered by renewable energy with calls to action or inspirational speeches, an environmental mascot, all sorts of student groups and clubs promoting their involvement with improving our environment, both internally speaking with our human relations and externally with nature. More details to come as I present my thoughts to SEA and with my other campus networks.
2) Some opportunities also came up to give presentations to some elementary school students. A kindergarten class has invited me and the club to talk to some young students about the benefits/reasons for recycling, as we make some recycled notebooks that they can use for school. The other opportunity is the Riley County Extension’s E.A.R.T.H. Workshop, where we’ll teach 100 4th/5th graders about the harms of water pollution, including agricultural and industrial runoff. Both of these events seem very exciting and meaningful.
3) My friend Rob and I have been scheming about an old idea we had about a campout on campus. I love to camp, but I thought it would be more significant of an event to have a message behind it, other than recreation. After much brainstorming, we’ve decided that both SEA and the K-State Alliance for Peace and Justice (KAPJ) will have a demonstration raising awareness about global refugees, both wartime refugees and environmental refugees. I’m not quite sure how this will work yet, but it has got me pretty excited.
4) For awhile I have been thinking that I should do some sort of individual protest on campus…something that I personally really believe in and can speak out for. I’m not sure what this might be yet.
*by rogue activism, I mean student-inspired, student-led, undiluted student activism.
So with all that said, I guess I’ll continue on with this journey of not holding myself back… Not holding myself back from serving my inner ambitions or missing the chance to act/making a positive difference.
I’ll leave you all with a message from Ralph Nader about the importance acting. (Fast-forward to the middle of the video if you like).
Peace.
February 9th, 2009.
I’ve definitely been warming up for the “big show” so to say, i.e. my environmental activism project, in a number of ways.
First, I have been still riding the energy given at the KSU Sustainability Conference, which took place a couple weeks ago on January 23rd. This was K-State’s first ever conference regarding environmental sustainability. The conference featured various presentations on environmental topics, special keynote addresses, environmental exhibits, and a local food banquet. I was very impressed with the conference, especially with variety of discussed issues and the keynote speakers of David Orr and Wes Jackson (I’ll talk more about these people in my next blog). Also, I am proud to say that this conference featured my first activism experience for the project; a presentation on the Students for Environmental Action (SEA) club and Gameday Recycling, a program the club did to reduce landfill waste at KSU home football games. While my presentations were just a simple talk and powerpoint to about 25 people, I received a welcomed response from the audience and a sense of achievement in prompting environmental awareness.
Following the KSU Sustainability Conference, I met with a few of the key players in environmentalism on campus. I met with our Director of Sustainability, Ben Champion, as well as our Student Director of Sustainability, Michael Bell. In talking with both of these guys, I found some possible opportunities to further my eco-activism, including creating an event for Earth Day in April, working with KSU facilities during Recyclemania (a national recycling competition among colleges and universities), and launching a new KSU program called Ecolympics that involves living groups, such as Greek sororities and fraternities, competing to reduce their negative environmental impact. These opportunities definitely sound interesting.
On a different a note, my learning in our Women & Environmentalism class is also getting me psyched up for more activism. Currently, we’re discussing the different theories of environmentalism, including Ecofeminism, Deep Ecology, Sustainability, and Environmental Justice. While we haven’t explored all the topics in depth yet, I have researched a little bit on what each theory is about.
Deep Ecology: Recognizes that humans are a single part of the planetary ecosystem, where all species deserve equal rights.
Ecofeminism: Relates and connects nature and womenProxy-Connection: keep-alive
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ogether through social and physical links and by male-dominated oppression.
Sustainability: An ethic of preserving the planet for future generations, often through practical, tangible, incremental steps.
Environmental Justice: Promotes environmentalism through the consideration of equality and human rights by addressing racism and classism among the oppressed. They advocate an “environment for all.”
I definitely think I connect with all of these theories in various ways. I know I share the Deep Ecology perspective of all living species having equal planetary rights and that our human-induced environmental degradation should be corrected. Similarly, I agree with Ecofeminism in that much of our negative human actions are due to the patriachal oppression among nature. Of course, sustainability makes sense to me because I too feel that people should be ethically responsible and preserve/share the planet with future generations. Lastly, everyone deserves the access to a healthy environment, not just the privileged. Environmental justice is important in establishing equality among people as environmental progress happens.
Learning about these theories in class has exponentially increased my desire to perform activism and actually put these concepts into practice. I think my project will allow for a lot of experiential learning regarding these topics. I’m looking forward to seeing how I can promote these concepts firsthand.
That concludes this post. I’ll leave you with some videos explaining some of the different theories I mentioned.
Environmental Justice:
Ecofeminism:
Deep Ecology:
Sustainability:
So I have been thinking about what I am going to do for my lived experience for awhile now and finally I think I have come up with something solid.
For our Women and Environmentalism class, our task for this semester assignment is to choose a project that the student can either 1) undertake a personal environmental experiment, 2) explain how one person can make a difference on a particular environmental topic, and 3) do self-directed research on a specific environmental issue. Well, after much thought, I think I’m going to do a combination of all three. However, for the purposes of blog structure, I will follow the first option of “walking your talk” and blog my experiences in chronological order.
One thing that has always pleased me about the Women’s Studies courses I have taken is the charge and encouragement to take action. Certainly, creating social change is perhaps the core mission of feminism, as well as the other related progressive theories and movements. Being active and productive in my community has always interested me too. So with that in mind, my lived experience project for this semester will be to take as much action in my community with respect to environmental issues as I can. I hope by SATURATING MYSELF IN ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM FOR 3 MONTHS, I will create positive change for both myself and my community.
Because my job, living place, and classes all take place on campus, I foresee myself concentrating my time and energy on impacting the K-State community primarily. Fortunately, I have already started preparing myself for this experiment by establishing some outlets for my eco-activism. Currently, I am a member of a campus environmental club named Students for Environmental Action. Furthermore, I have collected a few student and administrative contacts for which I can collaborate with and organize some campus events and environmental projects.
Over the next couple of months I’ll keep you updated on what environmental action I’m taking and how it’s treating me. Hopefully, my blogs will convey what’s happening in my head, as well as provide intriguing information and education to fill your (the reader’s) intellectual appetite.
I certainly look forward to becoming a full-tilt environmental activist. As I always say, “Go Green or Go Home.” I’ll catch you on the flip side.
P.S. Here’s a recap of my project:
What: Being the best environmental activist I can for 3 months.
Who: Me, with a little help from my friends
When: Feb 4th – May 4th
How: environmental projects, events, and public awareness
Why: To help improve the environmental well-being of my community and planet, educate myself and others about creating social change, and to undertake an adventure.
P.P.S. We’ll kick off “Going Green & Singing the Blues” with not necessarily a blues song, but certainly a blue artist. Enjoy.
