The climate crisis is real. Song "Four Degrees”, climate change awareness, inspired by 4°C warming scientific report, urgent call to action. 英検2級 TOEIC CEFRB1
What has to happen for people, companies, and governments to do more to stop us from our own destruction?
Cat pondered on this for some time. Words of poet, name of Robert Bly came to mind. Bly write about denial. He write: "Denial begins with the refusal to admit that we die. Breaking through the wall of denial helps us get rid of self-pity, and replaces self-pity with awe at the complicated misery of all living things." Cat think this is very interesting choice of words, this "complicated misery of all things".
Cat thinks Bly is correct in some ways, about how living in culture that refuse to even think about death. Maybe if culture accepts finitude in all things, culture can begin to approach death of planet in new and innovative ways. Big questions, always.
Cat, you've lived with humans for a long time. You know how hard it is for us to just be present in the moment. We're always thinking about the next show to watch, getting dinner on the table, moving the laundry to the dryer, catching up on email. If we're not busy, we're anxiously planning for the future or thinking about the past. We aren't comfortable just being.
Just sitting.
Just looking at a tomato plant grow.
Just watching a crow carry a branch off to make a nest.
Maybe if we can just keep busy enough, we can avoid being in the moment. Because, if we actually watch that plant or crow long enough, we realize that it, and we, too, have an end. Avoidance is denial.
I probably live in a different culture from the one you live in, Cat, (I'm in Japan), but people here are pretty much the same as people in many other places. Although there is a certain stoicism here with regard to death, there is another kind of denial - personal responsibility. The thinking that "someone else will eventually find an answer" is pervasive.
Thank you for your thoughtful comments, Cat. My favorite word from your quote is "awe". How seldom we humans take the time to acknowledge "awe" at something, let alone at the "complicated misery of all things".
What has to happen for people, companies, and governments to do more to stop us from our own destruction?
Cat pondered on this for some time. Words of poet, name of Robert Bly came to mind. Bly write about denial. He write: "Denial begins with the refusal to admit that we die. Breaking through the wall of denial helps us get rid of self-pity, and replaces self-pity with awe at the complicated misery of all living things." Cat think this is very interesting choice of words, this "complicated misery of all things".
Cat thinks Bly is correct in some ways, about how living in culture that refuse to even think about death. Maybe if culture accepts finitude in all things, culture can begin to approach death of planet in new and innovative ways. Big questions, always.
Cat, you've lived with humans for a long time. You know how hard it is for us to just be present in the moment. We're always thinking about the next show to watch, getting dinner on the table, moving the laundry to the dryer, catching up on email. If we're not busy, we're anxiously planning for the future or thinking about the past. We aren't comfortable just being.
Just sitting.
Just looking at a tomato plant grow.
Just watching a crow carry a branch off to make a nest.
Maybe if we can just keep busy enough, we can avoid being in the moment. Because, if we actually watch that plant or crow long enough, we realize that it, and we, too, have an end. Avoidance is denial.
I probably live in a different culture from the one you live in, Cat, (I'm in Japan), but people here are pretty much the same as people in many other places. Although there is a certain stoicism here with regard to death, there is another kind of denial - personal responsibility. The thinking that "someone else will eventually find an answer" is pervasive.
Thank you for your thoughtful comments, Cat. My favorite word from your quote is "awe". How seldom we humans take the time to acknowledge "awe" at something, let alone at the "complicated misery of all things".
Yes, big questions, indeed. 🍤
Cat think on this. Thank you for thoughtful response…Response-ability (!) 😻