We and here?
A place to post our first "reflection papers" dealing with the questions: who am "I" (are "we")? and where is "here"?
posted by Rebecca @ 10:42 PM
This blog is part of an individual directed study course exploring how many humans in the Global North seem to have lost our social connection to nature. In an age of increasing urbanization, humans in the Global North increasingly live our lives mediated through technology, which has created a disconnect with our natural environments.
A place to post our first "reflection papers" dealing with the questions: who am "I" (are "we")? and where is "here"?
posted by Rebecca @ 10:42 PM
1 Comments:
ROUGH DRAFT
Who am I?
It seemed such a simple question, when we came up with it.
“I’ll just whip off an answer in an hour or so” I thought. . . .
and yet here I am almost two weeks later, just starting to try and answer this deceptively easy question.
Who am I? WHO am I? who am I?
The answer is definitely not something one can “whip off in an hour or so” – no with any hope of doing it (and me) justice. There are things to consider, when we say “who am I” what do we mean – do we want a superficial physical answer, an in-depth psychological profile, or some sort of existential description?
You have probably noticed that I still haven’t started to answer the (deceptively simple) question.
Who am I?
I am more than the sum of my parts.
But – how can you know the sum, if we don’t address (at least some of) the parts? So, where to start? At the beginning!?
Is the beginning where I was born (Orangeville, Ontario – just outside Toronto, Ontario Canada.) and to who (American mother, Canadian father – both highly educated scientists)? Or is it what you would learn of me when first we meet (female, white, 20-something, English speaker, student)?
Maybe I should start with my interests (that could be a long list including: reading, social and environmental justice, nature, personality and people, the arts particularly visual art and poetry, animals especially horses and turtles…). Or my relationships (in a long term—6 years—committed relationship, a daughter of two happily married parents, an older sister to one younger sister, a few close friends).
How about my personality – that could be a whole study (a psychological one) in and of itself. How does one even attempt to accurately describe their own personality? I did a personality “colour quiz” on the internet yesterday and it said that I was an idealist. (I didn’t pay the money to find out what kind of idealist I am though).
People tell me I am shy, quiet, talkative, intelligent, a know-it-all, opinionated, indecisive, compassionate, a good listener, a realist, a pessimist, (over)sensitive, kind, good with children, a good teacher, passionate, impatient with stupidity, sad, funny, silly, weird. . . and that’s just what they say to my face! I’d like to think of myself as kind, compassionate, intelligent, creative and fair but most days I’m not so sure of most of those.
Does that answer the question – who am I?
No, not really. But, it’s a start.
Where is here?
My bed
In my bedroom
In my parents house (where I grew up)
In Omemee (a small town)
Ontario
Canada
North America
The Global North
The planet Earth
Here is also now – this historical moment. 11:30pm, Eastern Standard Time, May 12th 2006. Now George W. Bush is President of “the most powerful country in the world” the USA and Stephen Harper (another Right wing conservative) is Prime Minister of this country. There is a war in Iraq—over oil, or WMDs , or freeing the Iraqi people depending on whose view you take—going on now, which is all over the news; there is genocide going on right now in the Sudan, which isn’t. Technology is rapidly improving the quality of life of those who can afford it, while those who can’t are being left further and further behind.
And this moment in my life – the summer break from my first year of my master’s degree in environmental studies. It’s my 27th summer, which I am splitting between working at a Midwifery practice in Peterborough, Ontario and studying at York University. A summer, which—like many before it—I am spending mostly apart from Kirk (my partner), and during which I hope to spend some time at my family cottage in Cape Cod, Massachusetts USA.
Conclusions
I don’t know if I actually answered the questions. I think that for the purpose of this course “I” (and thus my part of “we”) can be defined as a female, North American, English speaker from a wealthy, industrialized country. “Here”, for this course at least, can be defined for me as the Global North, specifically North America and more specifically Ontario, Canada.
I hope that be defining these two very elusive concepts we can give ourselves a basis from which to pursue the answer to the questions we are asking about our social connection to nature.
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