Is a ‘Good’ life attained through the ‘Goods’ life?

 

From all what we own, how much is really necessary to live? Do we really need about 10 pairs of shoes or a huge closet filled with clothes? The more we buy, the more harm we are doing to our own future. It’s just that when we buy most of the goods, we think only about the momentary happiness and not about our happiness or safety in the long run. Another reason for this sky-rocketing consumerism, maybe the fact that people are not actually educated enough about this field. Most of the people are not aware of the damage the goods they buy have on the planet or they are aware of it but only think about the satisfaction they get in that moment. Commercialization and consumerism have the power to brainwash us and embed the want for higher salaries and more goods. Does buying stuff really make us happy? We soon get fed up of what we bought and we tend to buy something even better in a few weeks’ time. Research have proven that more the people aspire materialistic goals, lower their happiness. This actually has led to depression, anxiety and abuse. Consumerism also affects our social relationships. Nowadays most of the kids are possessed by a TV, Gameboy or a play station when they could actually be making real-life connections with friends and appreciating the environment. Scientists have proven that materialism and pro-social is like a see-saw. As materialistic value goes up, the pro-social value goes down.  Research also have shown that we tend to buy more when we are feeling insecure. This feeling of insecurity can be easily got rid of, if we talk with our family or take a walk. One of the best ways to reduce consumerism is to show the intrinsic value of nature, to grow your own fruits and vegetable etc. And also to see the true beauty of nature and realize the way in which our actions can contribute to its destruction. This way will promote personal, social and ecological well-being. Then as intrinsic values go up, the materialistic value will go down. I feel that we should prioritize the things we really need in life and not the stuff we want in life. This differentiation between the things we need and the things we want has the potential to reduce the damage to our Earth. So the next time you feel like changing your phone or your laptop or buy a pair of new shoes, ask yourself whether you really need it.

A. M Ovini H Amarasinghe
Source:
The above video

Childhood and Nature

One of the key ways we form environmental beliefs is through childhood experiences that help shape who we are and where we will go. As a child I remember going fishing with my dad or always playing outside with my friends. I lived in suburbs but we still had a little “forest” behinds us, which everyone referred to as the woods. It was a scary place at first it was darker, colder, and who knows what was in there but as kids we got over that fast we started making forts. We would build teepees and then eventually just sort of made a fort out of the open space and trees. I can remember the first day we were officially down with the fort we had a cook out and all went into the woods with our food but my biggest memory was laying in the snow and listening to the snow as it fell on the forest ground. Little did I know exploring the woods, listening to the all the sounds would shape me so much.

I always enjoyed just taking a moment and just listening to your surroundings. In Clifton you hear cars and people but when you’re in nature its so much more special you hear all the little critters, the rustle of the wind and no one else. These early experiences were the kick start to my appreciation of nature and it wasn’t until high school when I first took AP environmental studies and joined Turtle Club (where we would track turtles at the Cincinnati Nature Center) that I decided I wanted to take that appreciation to the next level and further my education towards the natural sciences. My experiences as a child and teenager lead me to wanting to major in Environmental Studies and these experiences continue to drive my passion to travel the world and see all its has to offer.

Shelby Simmons

Earth’s feelings.

A large portion of our discussion in class centered around the motivation for decisions that are related to diet. As a previous vegetarian (I went through a “save the cows” phase in high school), I definitely am aware of the humanizing of animals that can take hold of certain areas of our lives, specifically, our diets. I also watched Ted Talks videos like “Plant-strong & healthy living: Rip Esselstyn at TEDxFremont” that encouraged my vegetarian diet (which was really a great experience). The motivation behind my lifestyle change was two-fold. I love animals-I watched too many videos that showed the horror of mass production of meat. On the other hand, it was a health decision. The only reason I stopped was because of convenience and I didn’t think I was eating as healthy because I’d chow down on greasy french fries and onions rings, all in the name of being a vegetarian-which was something I never indulged in before I stopped eating meat. Also, food is a huge part of many different cultures. When I spent a summer in Bolivia, I would’ve missed out on so much if I didn’t embrace the unique that makes Bolivia the country that it is.

I researched a study that was done on the motivation behind vegetarian diets and this is what it consisted of:

<This qualitative study explored the motivations of vegetarians by means of online ethnographic research with participants in an international message board. The researcher participated in discussions on the board, gathered responses to questions from 33 participants, and conducted follow-up e-mail interviews with 18 of these participants. Respondents were predominantly from the US, Canada and the UK. Seventy per cent were females, and ages ranged from 14 to 53, with a median of 26 years. Data were analysed using a thematic approach. While this research found that health and the ethical treatment of animals were the main motivators for participants’ vegetarianism, participants reported a range of commitments to environmental concerns, although in only one case was environmentalism a primary motivator for becoming a vegetarian. The data indicate that vegetarians may follow a trajectory, in which initial motivations are augmented over time by other reasons for sustaining or further restricting their diet.>

References:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195666307003686

 

Spring Break

We college students live lives of constantly doing things whether it is studying, socializing, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Group projects, work, going to the gym, attending events, going to class, it’s rare that we take time and look at nature.  We almost spend more time learning about nature than we do taking a step back and appreciating it.  I think its good that we are learning all of these things and our impact on nature and what we can do to keep its beauty.  Over spring break I took some time to go fishing, I think everyone has their different ways of taking nature in and I typically do it fishing.  I had some time over break to step back and think about how I haven’t really experienced all that it has to offer, I have lived in Cincinnati my whole life.  I have been to florida and the ocean is great, but after going to jackson hole wyoming a couple years ago and climbing mountains I really got a taste for how amazing it is, I think what makes it so special is how unpopulated it is.  I was thinking I want to take another trip like this soon to really take in all that nature has to offer and I found this article which has a list of all of the amazing places where nature can be appreciated.

http://travel.cnn.com/explorations/play/natural-wonder-bucket-list-50-spectacular-places-see-639593/

Typically pictures don’t do nature justice when seeing them, but this list has me excited especially because these places are just a short while away, save up some money and take action towards these destinations is my goal.  But for the time being I want to get out more in the nature I have at my finger tips. Nature is everywhere you just have to take a step back and see it.

Benefits of Meditation

During the meditation session that we had last week, the first thing that I thought about was the desert when we asked to think about a place. When I was back home, I used to go to the desert with my family and friends almost every winter. During the winter, those spots are amazing in ways bordering on magical. I thought of the cold chilly nights with the family around the fire. The endless space in the desert is really fascinating. After the meditation session I felt good, and I decided to attend other meditation sessions outside class because I believe these meditations are helpful.

Meditation considers as an inspiration station. Basically, the meditation session gives your mind the chance to have a break from mundane thinking, takes your claws out of your thoughts. Sara Lazar, Ph.D., the study’s senior author, said, “Although the practice of meditation is associated with a sense of peacefulness and physical relaxation, practitioners have long claimed that meditation also provides cognitive and psychological benefits that persist throughout the day.”

There was a study that consists of 16 participants in an eight-week stress reduction course. Everybody was instructed on how to practice the exercises that they received, which were 27 minutes practicing the meditation, besides the normal exercises such as walking, washing dishes, and so on. MRI scan of participant’s brains were taken before and after the meditation exercise to observe the differences. The MRI scans showed that participants who had the meditation had a large amount of gray matter concentration within different parts of their brains, which those regions involve emotion regulation, sense of self, memory.

reference:

http://therenegadepharmacist.com/how-meditation-changes-the-brain/

-Rawan Algahsan

Spring Break

The meditative exercise we did right before spring break, where we had to close our eyes and invision a previous experience we had in nature, made me realize I haven’t had too many positive experiences.  When ever I go on vacations or even at home, the closest I get to enjoying nature is tanning by the pool. Doing this exercise right before I went on vacation to Florida for spring break, made me enjoy it more. Instead of being so quick to run to the nearest mall or bar, I feel like I appreciated the weather more. I walked more places instead of ubering and ate outside in the fresh air more then being in the air conditioner.

-Skylar Barkley

Consuming the Enviornment… mentally

Many people nowadays deal with serious stress. College kids know this best, I swear. The real question is, though, how are they truly dealing with their stresses? Well, for me, i take it out on nature. When classes have me feeling overwhelmed or ready to rip my hair out, I go outside and soak it up. There is just something about sitting in the grass and staring up at the sky and trees. It’s like nature has no worries, i mean it’s beautiful and obviously smart since it inhabits the whole world.. lol. But the fact of the matter is, it has more worries than any of us.

Global warming and us as humans destroying the environment is a very real thing. You’d think we would take care of the thing we all have to live in but nope. Thats us humans for ya. The fate of the environment is in our hands and if you look around, its beautiful at first then you notice the litter, the the cracks in the sidewalks, the pure laziness of taking care of our Earth. It’s a sad fate that we are creating for the environment around us, causing us to create more stress on our environment and essentially on ourselves. We are the ones making the mess that one day, we will have to clean up. We’re here at school using all our time to study something that will get us a job one day. That job will make us money. We will take that money and put it towards things we want, need, and things that are destroying the life that we have used up all our time on. Think of the last time you properly followed directions on how to save the earth. Less paper, less aerosol cans… anything. We haven’t in a long time and we know that. We’re a stubborn group of humans thats for sure and we are consuming our environment one day at a time.

Alexandria Davis

Our Experince With Nature

Two weeks ago we talked about what nature meant to us individually.  We were told to close our eyes and picture our greatest moment when we felt like we were one with nature.  Sounds like some hippy style meditation right?  Wrong, it actually was a perfect exercise to practice.  As funny as it sounds to do, each and every one of us, has had a special connection with nature.  It may not be the same image of nature but we each have our own experience.

My experience with nature personally would be considered the ideal thoughts of nature.  I remember as a kid going to Miami Whitewater Park and then going to the Cincinnati Zoo and even having picnics up by Eden Park.  Nature to me was playing outside in the sun, visiting the animals at the zoo, and taking hikes on the forest trails.  Though not everyone I heard from felt the same way about nature.  When I asked my friend about nature, he told me his first thoughts were cities and skyscrapers and hanging out in the city with his family.  I never in my wildest dreams would have thought that was considered anybody’s nature.  It all goes back to our childhood experience and how that affected us growing up.  That doesn’t always mean that if we were exposed to nature a lot as a kid we were meant to love being outside and appreciating nature.

My friend told me that being from New York City, they didn’t have much of the typical nature that I had explained to him.  As he put it, he lived in a concrete jungle and wouldn’t have change it growing up.  From the sounds of cars honking and cab drivers yelling, to the smells of pizzerias on every corner, those to him were aspects of his personal nature.   He said it’s made him appreciate all types and views of nature moving to Ohio.

It doesn’t matter where you are from, or what your nature is considered to be.  Every one of us has a personal connection with it.  Even if you only had a small garden terrace in a giant bustling city compared to access of a local park in a small town, they all have special connections.  This is why communication is important because learning about everyone’s aspect of a similar topic can be so enlightening.

By: Matthew Wurzelbacher

Exploration Opens the Mind

As children, most of us went on many memorable vacations with our family. Besides the dreaded long hours of being stuffed into a mini van with siblings you wanted to choke the entire time, it’s interesting to think back to the one vacation that impacted your life in a greater way than you would have ever realized. For myself, this defining vacation was when I traveled to Colorado around age 5. This was my first big vacation, and seeing something other than Northwest Ohio flatlands and tractors really opened my mind. I got to see so many new animals and mountain ranges in person, and it just really hit home to me that our world is so big, and has so much to explore.

My family has always been really big into the idea that traveling is so important to your life, and means so much more than materialistic things. I can remember back to when my older sister studied abroad in Spain her sophomore year of college and came back an entirely new person. She really felt that traveling opened her mind and she became so tolerant of different kinds of people and different cultures in the world. There’s something about seeing a new place that really changes something in our minds. It makes us realize that the tiny things we stress about at home, really mean close to nothing in the grand scheme of life.

Our world is so beautiful and admiring the beauty and simplicity of it changes the way we think and communicate with others. I firmly believe that everyone should take at least one big vacation in their life before they settle down and start a family. It can really help your mind become opened to what you truly want and need out of life.

-Jocelyn Scott

Meeting Nature

I wanted to share this video as an introduction to the broader idea of the relationship children have with nature. This particular forest school, based in Surrey, UK, not only offers Pre-K and early childhood education, but also extends courses to older children and adults. We learned in our discussion and through the book that our perceptions of nature as children are incredibly formative. Having a direct relationship with the natural environment is not only a way to teach children freedom, but is also healthy. According to a study shared through the Children & Nature Network, antidepressant use among children 2-19 years of age grew significantly between 1988 and 1994. The belief is held that increased time indoors and at school is causing children to feel depressed or to exhibit signs of high stress atypical for age. A study by the journal of Pediatrics found that 70% of children are not receiving enough Vitamin D which is proven to assist in mood regulation.

In our own experiences, I’m sure many of us would feel that we had an active childhood. For myself, growing up in a very rural town in Illinois was very important in shaping how I feel about the natural environment. The ability to explore what was naturally around me with very little supervision gave 7 year old me a very big sense of freedom. Add in the fact that throughout Elementary School and Middle School we had at least 20 minutes of outside time after lunch AND required daily physical education that, often times, met outdoors,  and it’s clear that I was immersed outdoors in some capacity for much of my formative years. Being able to run around, dig in the dirt, and build things out of sticks between the humdrum of Language Arts and Math is an important “grounding” experience for children.

Forest Schools, like the one in Surrey, seek to immerse children in nature by teaching them practical skills. As you saw in the video, the children not only get to run around and play, but they learn how to use tools, how to start fires and necessary safety rules for each activity they do. While there is some order and restriction, the majority of the day focuses on a Montessori-esque approach which encourages children to choose what they learn that day. This feature gives children a sense of control over their day and environment, thus empowering them.

These introductions to nature are important, and the importance cannot be stressed enough. A closeness and appreciation for nature helps children to be more healthy, creative, and strong–something all parents would wish for their children.

 

Kaylin Brodzki