I want to begin this blog by meditating on a quote, without context, taken from “Touching the Earth“:
“Collective black self-discovery takes place when we begin to renew our relationship to the Earth, when we remember the way of our ancestors. When the Earth is sacred to us, our bodies can also be sacred to us.”
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On Fridays and Saturdays for the majority of 2019, I worked as a security officer on State St, located in Boston, MA. My hours were from 11 PM-7 AM, AKA the graveyard shift. I would sit behind a desk that had two desktop screens where I could monitor cameras and alarms. I was the only one on duty at my site during this time. It was ultimately very boring and draining. However, during the sunrise, I had the best view. I would take the elevator up 12 floors and unlock the doors that led to the balcony that overlooked the Boston Harbor. That’s where this picture was taken and uploaded onto Snapchat.
More than half of my life has been spent in the city. Long and tall buildings with hundreds of stairs and windows have become normalized. When it is quiet, it makes me uneasy. The noise of the city brings me comfort. I have grown accustomed to the lights, the speed, and the sights. This is city life. This is my life.
Now I would like us to consider Terry Tempest Williams. In the chapter “Home work” from his reading entitled; “Red“, Williams brings up some very interesting points. He begins the chapter with repetitions of the phrase;
“Place + people = Politics. ” (Williams, pg.3)
Here he argument was made that this phrase was not as simple as originally intended. Western civilization has added to, molded, and completely altered the phrase until it became abstract, full of layers. If one might factor in social, human, and environmental rights (to which we are all quite familiar) then we see that “this territory is not neutral. (Williams, pg.3) Williams also believed that we could achieve conversations through story.
“Story bypasses rhetoric and pierces the heart.” (Williams, pg.3,4)
I can agree with that philosophy. I am a strong believer that we are connected through stories. In a well-told story, we can visualize our differences, our similarities, and what makes us all human. We can draw comfort and community through our shared emotions and common experiences. Boston, for example, looks significantly different from the Boston I grew up in. Gentrification has gripped the city with two sturdy hands. However, I can still remember the empty lot by Stop n Shop, where my friends and I would ride our bikes in no particular fashion, race through puddles and laugh until the street lights turned on. Now that same vacant piece of space is what many might know as Boston Landing. Because of all the construction and skyscrapers in my childhood playground, the sunlight can no longer reach there.
The “landscape of minimalism” will mean more as our capitalist society deepens its reach on infrastructure and economy, We will be reminded “how precious the desert is to the soul of America. ” (Williams, pg.6)
I do not want to standby as the industrialized world expands and the natural world diminishes.
I hope that one day soon, we can use our voices together in union to demonstrate a “bedrock democracy, standing our ground in the places we love, together.” (Williams, 19)
If it is not evident by now that our natural spaces need to be preserved, let us consider Barbara Kingsolver (an awesome name), and her transcript excerpt: Knowing Our Place. She paints a beautiful picture of a simple life. She is surrounded by her family, nature’s pleasures, and peace. The pace of her life on this ranch is a wholesome one, dripping with an abundance of happiness. This was my favorite part:
“I take walks in the woods, I hang out our laundry, I read stories to my younger child, I hike down the hollow to a sunnier spot where I look after the garden that feeds us. And most of all, I write. I work in a rocking chair on the porch, or at a small blue desk facing the window. I write a good deal by hand, on paper, which — I somehow can’t ever forget — is made from the macerated hearts of fallen trees.”
Kingsolver (is anyone else reading it as kingslayer or is it just me??) argues through her story that humans can truly benefit from the wild. It nurtures us physically, mentally, and spiritually. So why would anyone neglect that? Why rid ourselves from an entity willing to sustain us? Why tear down the ecosystem that cleans our air and provides essential oxygen?… I still wrestle with these questions. If you think you can provide a satisfactory answer, please leave me a comment!
Everything in love,
Cece X
Sources:
http://jdyck.weebly.com/uploads/1/9/1/5/19153179/touching_the_earth.pdf
http://www.pbs.org/now/printable/transcript_smallwonder_print.html
Williams, Terry Tempest. “Red.”
I enjoyed this blog and want to comment on your last paragraph mostly. You ask why would anyone want to tear down an ecosystem, and I think the answer is money. There is a saying that if we build it, they will come. I think the reason these ecosystems are being torn down, is because a company can make a lot more money off of Boston Landings than an empty lot or even making the lot of park would not make nearly as much money as a building. I think you and many others including myself could not possibly understand the logic of doing more damage than we have to do. I would argue that a business does not care for the environment and why should it? it is about making money and anyone running the business generally also has plenty of money from said business.
I enjoyed this blog and want to comment on your last paragraph mostly. You ask why would anyone want to tear down an ecosystem, and I think the answer is money. There is a saying that if we build it, they will come. I think the reason these ecosystems are being torn down, is because a company can make a lot more money off of Boston Landings than an empty lot or even making the lot of park would not make nearly as much money as a building. I think you and many others including myself could not possibly understand the logic of doing more damage than we have to do. I would argue that a business does not care for the environment and why should it? it is about making money and anyone running the business generally also has plenty of money from said business. I think a good thing to keep in mind about climate change is it will be detrimental, but it wont neccessarily kill off everybody. There will be shortages of resources, so if there is a shortage, the ones with money and power will still have access to them. Take North Korea as an example, their economy is trash, and the people are starving, But the leaders and Generals are still well fed and cared for. So why worry about an issue that overall will not hurt you that much? I think that question can suffice as the overall answer to why people are capable of destroying the ecosystems that not only provide our essential oxygen, but all of our resources in general.
I enjoy the style in which you wrote this, it is unique and eye catching on the points of emphasis. To go off of some of the points you made about wilderness and the city. Currently, in America and other large countries we live very spread apart. I share a similar experience to you when reexamine my childhood, playing in parking lots, open areas, somewhat rundown areas have now been replaced with buildings and industry. But this is not completely a bad thing, larger cities could be considered the next major part in human living and sustainability. If more people were encouraged and able to live in cities it could cut down on the amount of cars needed, amount of travel people have to do, construction and vital resources being brought to remote landscapes. I think our biggest problem is how we have designed and built cities at time. Cities planner and developers moving forward should find ways to bring natural and green elements to the city. Although these changes can be difficult to grasp with, watching your home change can be hurtful and saddened, what I attempt to envision is not gentrification. I think although parts of gentrification are good for most communities, increased population, increased taxes, a rise in home prices, general increase in economic productivity; along with this can also come better education systems, a more diverse and competitive business market, overall higher standards of living. But what cannot be forgotten in this process is the integrity of the neighborhood, it culture, its values and ways of life. I think gentrification can generally be explained by an expansion of economic and communal development that also attempts to completely alter or destroy the culture and heritage of a particular community. What should and needs to be encouraged is the development of both economic and communal development that not only coincides with the cultural of a community but helps bring up member of the community as well.
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Hi Cece,
I would just like to start out by saying how much I loved reading this piece. I actually felt as if I was there and I loved the fact there is a caption saying “frosty af” on the picture because the first word that came to mind was frost. Boston is a very special place to me especially near the water as a child I would dream of breaking into a boat every weekend and imagining how it would be just to have a secret place on a boat. I love water and I found a sense of place when actually reading your post. The way way you described this place gave me a tour of how your mind works. I also have some what of an answer to your question, sometimes people are moving so fast they forget to stop and take a moment to really breathe in the sunset. Some people neglect nature because it’s not something they’ve been introduced to, if it wasn’t for myself joining massperge at umass I wouldn’t know anything else and I would probably still be throwing Starbucks cups out my window. One person at a time can save the planet. Keep that in mind. Always educate those you feel have neglected nature.