Before reading Emergent strategies, I had lots of ideas about things that I may want to do in the future. I tend to want to solve the issue or create the biggest impact possible. Of course, right? Who wouldn't? I am not quite sold on the idea yet but one thing the book got me thinking about is if small scale changes really make a difference; so much environmental harm is occurring on a large scale such as by production companies or extraction industries that pollute land, water, and air creating more of an impact on the environment than one person can. I have shifted my thinking a bit. I am not sure that patterns that happen at a small scale replicate themselves later on a larger scale as Emergent Strategies claims. However, I do think I can make an impact with my living in a way that adjusts my lifestyle to be conscientious of the environmental harm people are inflicting and various ways to address it in our everyday lives as well as other ways to get involved. In this way, I can spread the word to help teach and educate others.
I have pictured a variety of ways and scenarios of my future life that would somehow make me feel that I have contributed to the changes I want to see within our society. On a fundamental level, I think ideas of ecocentrism that recognizes the value of all life, could be a useful ideology. Currently, the majority of society sees people as separate from nature, something to be conquered. Much to the contrary we need harmony with nature and all living beings. Humans are not at the top of my food chain, I only see a web of connections. I studied ecosystems a lot which leads me to believe we all need each other, other living things to survive and thrive in our environments. Each piece has a part that it plays and when put together functions as a whole to keep the environment functioning, but nature often reflects life in this sense ecosystems do too as they are always changing. It could be slight changes that most wouldn’t notice like a change in plant composition: a few less ferns, a few extra ivory. Or much larger scale changes like the gradual transition from a grassland to wooded area with many stages and time in between.
So, back to that picture I have. One of my grandest ideas struck me a few years ago while working at the Jefferson Community center. Back in my hometown there is often not much for teenagers to do in town, especially that does not cost money. I would love to be able to open up and run a youth recreation center focused on education surrounding the environment taught through learning about nutrition and gardening. Another Idea I had involves me working with after school programs and having my own ceramics studio on the side. My sister plans to have foster teens and at this age connection can be hard. One thing that always got through to me and quite often ends up being my happy place outside of nature is ceramics. I hope to provide others with learning and give them the opportunity to experience art and self-expression. Working with clay can help me feel grounded in chaos, so if this is something I can pass on the other so they may feel grounded in whatever it is they choose to do with their lives whether that includes working on environmental and social justice issues much like I have or not, that’s great!
Lastly, I hope to own a house with land someday so that I am able to grow my own food. This is something that is so important to me, because I feel as though it is something I have lost or maybe that was taken from my family without them noticing. My great grandparents and grand parents no matter which side of the family, blood relative or not ALWAYS gardened. There is nothing like a tomato fresh out of Papa’s garden or a plum off my favorite fruit tree. However, my parents did not really garden. My mom tried it for the first time when she was almost in her 50’s. That seems so crazy to me as I love to garden and get my hands dirty. My dad has this attitude of ‘why should I care about growing my own food when I can just go to the store’. I do not know when the shift began. Maybe with an increase in city living, gardening is less possible for the average person, but either way people are disconnected from their food systems. We have food deserts in which people do not have access to fresh, health, affordable food in their everyday lives. This is an issue that I think needs changed on a fundamental level. People need to know where their food comes from and if people could understand that local food decreases our environmental footprint, people may make more conscientious decisions about what they are eating and where it comes from. I also remember that my grandparents always shared their garden with anyone who stopped by from friends and family to neighbors. Thus, by having a garden where I can focus on not using fuel or pesticides I can educate others.
Any amount of ideas could work to help me meet my goals. I suspect that I may try many or all of these ideas at some point within my lifetime. In the end who knows what it will look like maybe a mashing of all my visions together, it is very fluid, but my hope by the end is to feel happiness as well as like my life had some kind of positive impact associated with it from my perspective. Hence, in my most simple definition to be an agent of change means to impact, help, educate, and relate to those around you drawing them into the environment with positive momentum's of change instead of an urgent sense of gloom and doom( which kind of freaks some people out for some reason).
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