As I sit here trying to connect to the natural world around me, I can’t help but feel incredibly separate. I’m wearing overalls and a heavy jacket, my ears double-covered with a beanie and headphones. I sit on top of a picnic table to avoid getting a wet butt from the mud seeping through my pants. Without these precautions I would be too focused on the cold to really feel my roots, but I fear that I’m quite removed as is.

I’ve always preferred being barefoot; when walking around, when hanging out in a park or outside, when playing sports, when climbing, especially when dancing. Maybe this is because of my poor balance, maybe I just feel mentally/emotionally disconnected when I’m physically separated from the earth or floor. I can imagine my roots anyway, imagine the thick network of smaller shoot-offs intertwining with the other plants and organic waste of life, now reincorporated into our great system. I can feel the moist, nutrient-rich soil supporting me equally (or equitably, evenly, non-partially, I suppose), and I can feel the unique history of this island as it has left its mark forever in the mineral makeup, layering, and displacement of earth. I’ve been in an archaeology and an earth and humanity course while here, which has been making me reflect a lot more on how the “body” of the earth and its systems keeps the score, and how my seemingly insignificant actions, individual, group, ritualistic, will be in some (even small) way remembered here.

At a big university for the first time and in student housing, I’ve also been thinking a lot about our energy usage as an institution. It seems that efforts for sustainability fall through the cracks in housing, likely due to the large scale of the energy network. This is a shame because I don’t think it would be that hard to install motion-activated lights or a more efficient (and functional!) hot water system, even one building at a time. Change can start small. The university as a whole, as well as the country, already uses a LOT of wind-powered energy and CHP, a sustainable system that harnesses waste heat, and they have been for decades so I know the intention and option are there. Perhaps my project will teach me more and see how to get this ball rolling… food for thought. It’s time to retract my roots and retreat into warmth. Until next time!

 

Here are some bonus photos of campus critters and the Cliffs of Moher from last weekend! I promise it’s not me or anyone I know standing on the cliff edge