Author: Breland Athies

The ‘personal is political’ is an empowering statement that allows us to reflect on our daily actions and see how they have an effect on the greater whole. Individual lifestyle changes can most certainly lead to a fuller and more engaged life. Every time you consume or participate in modern life, you are making choices not only for yourself, but for the planet. Whether you decide to walk or drive to work or whether you choose to buy organic or support your local farmer’s markets… these are all ways in which we can peacefully protest against the current paradigm of mass consumption. Recycling, up-cycling, reducing and re-using items not only gives our ‘waste’ a new purpose, but we can find joy in expressing our creativity by making our own clothes, gifts, candles, jams, etc. Shout out to Leah who makes her own super cute clothes out of old fabrics that would otherwise be thrown away. You rock! <3

We can discover new things about ourselves through these creative processes, it doesn’t have to be a chore. Being kind to yourself and to the earth is one in the same. Over the past few months I have transformed my life slowly and found a way to make a difference that works for me. I did plenty of research into the ingredients of my common house-hold products and beauty products and have replaced many things with natural alternatives. In the Spirituality & Globalization class, my little group made our own toothpaste and ever since then I was like wow, what else I can make? Turns out; pretty much everything! Body wash, deodorant, laundry detergent, etc. These personal choices I’ve made by switching to a chemical-free lifestyle has not only made me feel better, healthier, and more vibrant, but I know that i’m doing the earth a favor by no longer buying plastic shampoo bottles and washing poisonous sulfates down the drain. & By choosing to live a vegan lifestyle, and buy organic, non-GMO foods I’m giving a big middle-finger to the large corporations that are destroying and degrading this beautiful earth as well as contributing to rising cancer rates among people and factory farms that mistreat and abuse animals severely.

I’m certainly not a saint, I have much to learn and still a lot I need to work on, but small changes like this can certainly improve one’s well-being. By having the opportunity to engage in conversations pertaining to these issues is empowering as well, knowing that we’re not alone and we all are striving for a better quality of life for us, our neighbors, and future inhabitants of the earth. We are responsible today not only for what we do but for what we don’t do. So thank you class & presenters for your continuous inspiration and insights, I need you guys, you make my life better and give me hope.

 

The reading “Indigenous Minds” may be interpreted in a variety of ways, but I think the overall message was rather simple and clear; that we are a part of the world we live in, not here to destroy it, but to nurture it as it does for us. As well, I liked how Twotrees said we were a detail in the larger picture, there is something greater beyond  us and we as humans think we already know everything, but we are so wrapped up in our own lives that it clouds our vision of the greater whole we are a part of. The land teaches us. I believe that just as we inherit our land from our ancestors, we are also borrowing it from future generations. Janice brought some wonderful insight into her native culture and what it means to have an ‘indigenous mind,’ we all have it, but perhaps we don’t quite know how to be in touch with it. Maybe we need to just stop, take a breath, look around, and absorb the beauty around us and feel embraced by nature. I labelled this post ‘Transformative Minds’ because our thoughts and feelings are constantly in flux, we are constantly learning and growing and experiencing new things.. it takes a solid effort but we can transform our thinking and tune into our indigenous minds, we cannot always be in that mindset 24/7 as external forces continue to draw us out, but it’s a part of us, and when we feel empty or in despair… our indigenous mind is there to remind us we are a part of something, we have a purpose, this earth is abundant and life-giving.. and when we take the time out of our busy schedules to express gratitude for the abundant lives we live, we can transform ourselves and the way we see and interact with our environment.

to be continued..

September 19-

Wow, so I joined this class a bit late but I am so happy I joined when I did and was able to hear Colin Milang speak. The stories he told of his life and family heritage were deeply moving. I was almost brought to tears a number of times, but the thing that stuck with me most is his emphasis on how the farm he lived and worked on was ‘Life Giving’; what a beautiful and profound statement! The Earth sustains so much life and cares for us providing resources for shelter, nourishment, and a lifelong connection to the land that many of us take for granted these days. We can’t blame ourselves fully for our ignorance however, as there are external forces at work constantly putting us under pressure to compete and conform in a global market system.

The global market has turned traditional family farming practices into a mess basically, ancestral knowledge is no longer being passed down to future generations. We do not know how to sustain ourselves or grow our own produce. The beauty and variety of luscious, healthy, organic produce has been replaced by monocultures, nutrient-depleted soil and food as a commodity instead of a precious gift that has a much greater purpose than profit. It broke my heart to hear that the award-winning Milang farm was completely stripped down by corporate businesses that value money over health and well-being and did not even consider the memories and life-support ability a piece of land is able to provide to numerous generations.

I loved reading “Thinking Like an Island,” it really makes our understanding of the world more accessible in a way because we can consider how our actions have a direct impact on our environment and the many species inhabiting it. We all share this land, although it is vast we are all in it together and it is so easy to forget that sometimes. We remain trapped in the paradigm of development feeling like we need to produce more and more and consume endlessly, but there are natural limits, limited resources, limited clean air and water… harmful practices on one side of the earth could be a toxic death or a brother or sister elsewhere in the world. I heard a crude metaphor, but I liked it, “It’s like pissing into one end of the bathtub and expecting the pee not to reach you on your end.” HA. So true. On top of that, internal challenges face us daily, many of them brought on by the external forces bombarding us every day. Struggling to pay rent, provide enough food for the family, worrying about the quality of food now especially, we are all just zombies trying to participate in a system that is not natural to us.

This leads to illnesses such as depression, cancer from toxic overly-processed foods, and just a numbing of our natural spirits that no longer have a place to connect to because we are not at home in this society- we are taking for granted what we already have and always searching for the next best thing.. we need to make a shift back to an agrarian paradigm- this shift will HAVE to happen because development as it is currently defined is simply not sustainable and is providing us with unhealthy processed ‘goods’ simultaneously robbing us of the skills and knowledge we need to survive. I felt sad about the destruction of the Milang family farm, but when I saw a picture of his happy, beautiful children I was thankful that they had the chance to experience the many wonderful gifts, skills and resources a farm can provide. I remain optimistic for the future because seeing, reading, and absorbing everyone’s passion in the class keeps me uplifted and we have a home within in each other. &No obstacle is too great when we have mother nature to care for us.