Talk:MacCARES/Home
from the Macalester Public Knowledge Base
Hello MacCARES (and everyone else interested)!
This is a compilation of the strengths, reflections, inspirations, quotes, poems, ideas, stories, moments, philosophies, book recommendations, creative expressions of any kind, interests, goals, dreams, visions, actions, little ideas, big ideas, passions, etc...to share with one another. These really run the gamut, too. It is meant to be interactive and ongoing! Whoo hoo! (Its in Alphabetical by First Name)
Angelina Lopez:
This first piece is a poem I wrote the other day. It is to my good friends and family, but also to everyone in MacCARES and broader spheres.
Open Love Letter
I’m in love with you because you are in love with all. I am attracted to the ‘impossible’ dreams, the over-souls incarnate, the emotional overdrives. I am the little angel who lights upon your ether and flutters out into the sunshine. I, the emerald/mindful-purple/curious-red/sassy-rust/earthy butterfly whose sun-warmed wings flit in confident spirals chased by passion and joy and six-year old Evér’s giggles.
I’m in love with you because you were present when I remembered to love myself and to free myself. Through these processes, I remembered to dive head-first into the profound interconnectedness that both prostrates and levitates.
I’m in love with you because I see myself in you, and I see you in me. We shape one another and I am not afraid of disposing of masks to cleanse and commune.
I’m in love with you because you dance with me in snow and marvel at clouds and stop awestruck at sunrise and notice light and notice breeze gently coaxing branches and entertain my fascination with decaying leaves in clear snow-melt on pebbly sidewalks. You, the present in body.
I’m in love with you because I cannot lose hope in you. This hope stems in my faith, the faith which you helped me know in myself.
I’m in love with you because I cannot ever leave you. Encapsulated in you is a brilliant, contagious luminosity, and I am filled to overflowing. I find it when I walk through a snow-laden field or a summer rain storm or when penetrating sunshine caresses my back. The wonders of existence shower upon me, sensitivity of my tongue on sand paper.
I’m in love with you. And I am here, breathing, to remind you of our companionship.
From The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
Beauty is life when life unveils her holy face But you are life and you are the veil. (76)
Your daily life is your temple and your religion. Whenever you enter into it take with you your all. (78 or 79)
Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain. And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy...And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief. (52)
Your joy is your sorrow unmasked…The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain. Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven?
Quotes:
"Man is as vast as he acts." -Teabag!
“In a pond, koi can reach lengths of eighteen inches. Amazingly, when placed in a lake, koi can grow to three feet long.” -Vince Poscente, Olympian
“As is our confidence, so is our capacity” –Euripedes
“For the Warrior there is no such thing as an impossible love. He is not intimidated by silence, indifference, or rejection. He knows that behind the mask of ice that people wear, there beats a heart of fire. This is why the Warrior takes more risks than other people…A Warrior never gives in to fear when he is searching for what he needs. Without love, he is nothing.” –Paulo Coehlo, The Warrior of the Light
“Mandar obedeciendo. Govern by obeying.” Zapatista life-way
‘Tim shel. Thou mayest.” –Steinbeck, East of Eden
Books:
The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran; Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn; The Little Prince, by Antoine Saint-Exupery; The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver; East of Eden, by John Steinbeck
Poem:
Sabbaths 2003, VI; Wendell Berry
The yellow-throated warbler, the hightest remotest voice of this place, sings in the tops of the tallest sycamores, but one day he came twice to the railings of my porch where I sat at work above the river. He was too close to see with binoculars. Only the naked eye could take him in, a bird more beautiful than every picture of himself, more beautiful than himself killed and preserved by the most skilled taxidermist, more beautiful than any human mind, so small and inexact, could hope ever to remember. My mind became beautiful by the sight of him. He had the beauty only of himself alive in the only moment of his life. He had upon him like a light the whole beauty of the living world that never dies.
Becca Orrick:
Strengths: A willingness and a desire to talk to and connect with a lot of different types of people on a one on one basis(in person, not over the phone), an open mind and a positive attitude, an understanding of different ways of viewing the environment and the way everything fits together, a pretty good understanding of the twin cities and a knowledge of a lot of local non-profits,
Issues: I?m really interested in designing innovative systems so that they're sustainable from start to finish such as some of the things described in cradle to cradle, aquaponics, or the Kalundborg denmark example, which are all based on the principle of waste becoming food. (If you're interested in these kinds of things I have books I can recommend and/or let you borrow). In addition, I'm interested in using innovative economic systems to fund environmental projects such as the CERF fund and putting pressure on the companies Macalester has our endowments in to become more energy efficient. How I became interested in this: In high school I initiated some projects that led me to realize that it's much more efficient to work towards change yourself instead of waiting for someone else to initiate the change you want to see. Since then I've been doing my best to educate myself on the complexities of the world and the roots of many environmental problems as well as some solutions.
Dave Hanold:
Strengths: Writing (editing); Understanding economics and history; Database research; Taken classes in Env. Politics and Sustainable Development; Currently interning at Will Steger Foundation, learning web design
Ellie Rogers:
My name is Ellie Rogers. I have pretty good handwriting and I also know a lot about green roofs (what they do, how they happen, etc). I have written a grant, although it is not my favorite activity in the world. I like writing, though, and editing other peoples’ writing. I also believe in the spiritual encompassing the sustainable, and so ecofaith work is important to me. What drives me is a greater love. This poem by Hafiz sums that up:
Even after all this time the sun never says, “you owe me.
Look what happens with a love like that: it lights the whole sky.
(Picture that this format didn't support-sorry)
My experiences of place, and the connotation and sentiment that go along with all the beauty I have come to know, have created a strong reverence in me. I am continually amazed, continually in awe, of the beauty here, all the life. I also believe in the beauty of human beings, and I think we deserve to learn how to live a fuller life together, one of justice and compassion fueled by that same reverence and gratitude. I think all this dreaming we are doing is incredible.
Here is one more poem that I love by Robert Bly: “Do you remember the night Abraham first saw The stars? He cried to Saturn: “You are my Lord!” How happy he was! When he saw the Dawn Star,
He cried, “You are my Lord!” How destroyed he was When he watched them set. Friends, he is like us: We take as our Lord the stars that go down.
We are faithful companions to the unfaithful stars. We are diggers, like badgers; we love to feel The dirt flying out from behind our back claws.
And no one can convinced us that mud is not Beautiful. It is our badger soul that thinks so. We are ready to spend the rest of our life
Walking with muddy shoes in the wet fields. We resemble exiles in the kingdom of the serpent. We stand in the onion fields looking up at the night.
My heart is a calm potato by day, and a weeping Abandoned woman by night. Friend, tell me what to do, Since I am a man in love with the setting stars.
Jason Rodney:
I think I was spiritual before I was revolutionary. Not that I'm either. But I'm also everything. I'm definitely confused. Most of the time.
I embrace a unity of religions with an infatuation with Buddhism right now, in a similar way that I embrace an assortment of pies with a particular interest in pecan pie with ice cream. If you know me too long, you may tire of my love of food, and dessert in particular, or you may join my anticipation of the next dessert. I'm kind of like a mole from Redwall, in that sense.
I love community, hip-hop, laughter, poetry, contradictory and deep statements that defy the intellect, dogs, sunshine, music, and the prospect of doing a backflip, amongst other things. At this point in my life, I couldn't pinpoint a strength of mine, except enjoying most things.
To my MacCARES family
For a long time I thought I knew connection. It was that moment when Smile burst out of me, Self suddenly expressed. That was when I connected with my environment. Then gradually I came to know a different kind, where a Friend and I can look at Jason and Friend, and see them for who they really are, their masks for what they fear, their joys for what they love. You've shown me something new- that these can be one in the same, that they can happen spontaneously, with near strangers, in academics and activism. What I've seen here is that forty people, all searching and a little uncertain can stumble upon Connection and through it, Change. You've reminded me that my stumbling is guided and driven, and you help me stumble. And yet I feel I've only glimpse this wonderful thing. we're all waiting expectantly offering it
and now we just need to dive into ourselves.
Quotes
"There is a way of breathing that's a shame and a suffocation and there's another way of expiring, a love breath, that let's you open infinitely." -Rumi
"How will you know the difficulties of being human if you're always flying off into blue perfection? Where will you plant your grief-seeds? We need GROUND to scrape and hoe, not the sky of unspecified desire." -Rumi
“Why show you God’s menu? Hell We’re all hungry Let eat!” -Hafiz
Joanna Clark
My name is Joanna Clark and I'm from Chattanooga, Tennessee. I'm a bit of a newbie to the environmental cause, but I love everything I've seen in MacCARES so far. My biggest strength is probably my ridiculous-insane sense of organization. I'm really good with Excel, and I can put basically anything into an understandable visual format. I'm also good at nitpicking (other people's) papers and spreadsheets, especially when it comes to document format and grammar. I'm you're girl if you need help with nerdy stuff like that.
And because I've only ever loved one poet, I thought I'd post one of my favorite by him (W.H. Auden):
"The More Loving One" Looking up at the stars, I know quite well
That, for all they care, I can go to hell,
But on earth indifference is the least
We have to dread from man or beast.
How should we like it were stars to burn
With a passion for us we could not return?
If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me.
Admirer as I think I am
Of stars that do not give a damn,
I cannot, now I see them, say
I missed one terribly all day.
Were all stars to disappear or die,
I should learn to look at an empty sky
And feel its total dark sublime,
Though this might take me a little time.
Justin Lee:
What can I say about my strengths? I realize now that I am weak; for the first time in my life I am challenged. Now is the time for me to start living.
Lara Hamburger:
My name is Lara Hamburger. I'm from Bloomington, Indiana, and have many connections at IU, if that's important in any way. I love the Earth, cephalopods, and the first sunny days of spring, ocean documentaries, and meeting new people, especially cool ones :) In terms of strengths I guess I can use that whole "I'm good at talking on the phone" thing. I try not to let people scare me.
I really like coming up with my own random life philosophies, but have a pretty big problem with old, dead philosophers who people base their lives off of. Crustaceans scare me, but since I really like ocean documentaries I'm working on getting over that fear. When I was five years old I lived in France and was fluent in French, a language that now (in my third semester of learning it again) is my least favorite class. Très triste.
Laura Bartolomei-Hill:
When my mother was pregnant with me, she worked as an editor for the humane society, and thus takes credit for every passionate activist action I take. I have lived in College Park, Maryland for a long time and I love Washington,D.C. I also love wheat thins, books, cats, my bed, writing letters, rugby, and long words that start with A, like ameliorate or ambidextrous.
I like to talk to people face to face, but I hate doing outreach to people over the phone. I can take personal action, I can make personal decisions and stick with them (I went vegan when I was seven and it wasn't hard. I just decided I was vegan one night and then I was.) but I struggle a lot with asking other people to change things about themselves, or even to give me a few minutes of their time. I'm working on it though. Kind of.
I like taking notes, because it makes me feel involved with everybody even if I am not actively working on a project. I also like doing research and writing, though lately I have not been a very good writer.
Books: Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer, East of Eden by John Steinbeck, The Autograph Man by Zadie Smith, The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem
Mark Stonehill:
Mark Stonehill Visionary Space
I am currently fascinated by garbage, waste, rubbish, and trash. My goal is to figure out how to deal with it, specifically, how to prevent it from happening in the first place. I’m working with Eureka recycling and the Zero Waste Committee to move Macalester towards a bright shiny future in which we do not have any (any) waste at all.
I love to act upon ridiculous, fantastical ideas. Everyone has crazy plans-- the tricky part is to nurse them into reality. Reality is among my favorite things. The only greater thrill is dreaming.
A traveling solar restaurant is the latest spark off the iron—we’d like to ride around the country (Asa, Miriam and I, plus whoever else is interested) with a restaurant in tow called “Sol Food.” We’d cook all sorts of yummy stuff in all sorts of yummy places, meeting all sorts of people along the way, who, hopefully, will pay us in return for the food we cook for them.
I’ve lived primarily in large cities, and when I walk through them I like to look at how people and goods move around—what modes we choose. Transportation, including how we move as well as how what we buy, eat and use moves, constitutes an enormous slice of the carbon pie. There are so many fantastic ways to get around—the possibilities blow my mind. Highways, unfortunately, are among my least favorite places.
I’m endlessly intrigued by urban landscapes, and am considering devoting my life to understanding them as holistically as possible.
Some big ideas that I am currently enchanted with are minimalism, simplicity and deliberate action. I’ve closely scrutinized myself for the last few years and found that I prefer to define myself by what I am rather than what I have. It is a great challenge to define oneself entirely this way, as our society lends itself to the latter rather than the former.
“Not all who wander are lost” is a quote that isn’t sexy or cool like some others I enjoy, but it’s the one that defines me the best. I’m a wanderer, but I don’t consider myself lost.
Mail is a passion of mine, and strange people, like Ray Johnson, are preferred. Dry people do not excite me.
"The contents is the contents; the stamp are the stamp; the address are the address. It is very clear your question 'Is this an art form' is the art form." - Ray Johnson
I like to eat broccoli stalks, as well as the florets on top.
See you outside!
Molly Brown:
So I guess my..blurb would be that the other night I was doing the phone-a-thon for Admissions, calling admitted students to congratulate them and answer any questions they had. One girl, who I ended up talking to for about a half an hour, couldn't really think of any questions, but I asked if she was at all interested in the environment. What ensued was a passionate conversation on both ends about what's going on here at Macalester, what her ideas for change and projects are, and what we as students actually can do. The timing was pretty impeccable, since all of these issues were on my mind from our recent discussions about MacCARES's vision and grand plans. In addition to getting this girl really excited about what MacCARES is doing, I was also able to realize how excited I was about what we're doing. I often feel like I get bogged down during check-in after check-in, update after update. We have so much going on and, since I'm not spearheading any of the projects, I've often felt a bit removed from the excitement. In talking to this girl though, I got this surge of passion and eagerness that, for me, gets lost in the weekly meetings. Since this discussion I've been feeling a really strong sense of direction for and confidence in MacCARES, as well as hope for our larger causes.
I much prefer talking to people in person than on the phone. I hate asking people for money, and for their commitment in general, I guess. I'm good with people, and good at keeping a group focused.
I try to be deliberate about noticing how the earth and atmosphere change. We've talked about this in a few meetings, and for a while I've felt that we as a society have completely disconnected the dynamism of our physical world from its effects on us. I like noticing how the wet ground feels to bare feet, and which way the wind is coming from. Each time the experience is different. Also I love laying down and watching individual blades of grass move.
I love the quote, "If there's any answer maybe love can end the madness. Maybe not, ohh, but we can only try." - Carole King
Timothy Den Herder-Thomas:
Several book recommendations: many of these are about concrete energy/ climate stuff, but I'm only noting the ones in this category that I have found revolutionary/ inspiring, some are also fictional novels, but also relevent:
Boiling Point by Ross Gelbspan Power to the People by Vijay (have to check his last name - it's in the MacCARES library;) The Last Days of Ancient Sunlight by Thom Hartmann; Who Owns the Sky? by Peter Barnes; Stormy Weather: 101 Solutions to GLobal Warming (Patrick Mazza, also in MacCARES library); A Language Older than Words by Derrick Jensen; The Post-Corporate World by David Korten; The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien; The Testament by John Grisham; Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton; Coming Back to Life by Joanna Macy
Ideas that I have found transformative:
living fire
people power
collective responsibility
Quotes: Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing. - Arundhati Roy
Be the change you wish to see in the world - Ghandi
We all do better when we all do better - Paul Wellstone
Together we figure it out - Mark Stonehill
Some disembodied quotes:
The two word definitiaon of sustainability is 'one world'
The impossible will take a little while
Poem: Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front by Wendell Berry
Love the quick profit, the annual raise, vacation with pay. Want more of everything ready-made. Be afraid to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head. Not even your future will be a mystery any more. Your mind will be punched in a card and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something they will call you. When they want you to die for profit they will let you know. So, friends, every day do something that won't compute. Love the Lord. Love the world. Work for nothing. Take all that you have and be poor. Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace the flag. Hope to live in that free republic for which it stands. Give your approval to all you cannot understand. Praise ignorance, for what man has not encountered he has not destroyed. Ask the questions that have no answers. Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias. Say that your main crop is the forest that you did not plant, that you will not live to harvest.
Say that the leaves are harvested when they have rotted into the mold. Call that profit. Prophesy such returns. Put your faith in the two inches of humus that will build under the trees every thousand years.
Listen to carrion - put your ear close, and hear the faint chattering of the songs that are to come. Expect the end of the world. Laugh. Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful though you have considered all the facts. So long as women do not go cheap for power, please women more than men.
Ask yourself: Will this satisfy a woman satisfied to bear a child? Will this disturb the sleep of a woman near to giving birth? Go with your love to the fields. Lie down in the shade. Rest your head in her lap. Swear allegiance to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos can predict the motions of your mind, lose it. Leave it as a sign to mark the false trail, the way you didn't go. Be like the fox who makes more tracks than necessary, some in the wrong direction. Practice resurrection.
Zach McDade:
Here is how I feel about MacCARES:
For several years I've recognized that with my passion for politics and writing, combined with a general respect for humanity and the human condition, I would end up working, in some form, as a "civil servant". (I use the term loosly to describe any position that benefits more than just myself.) I was captivated first by Timothy's whirlwind of energy and ideas, and quickly realized that it (MacCARES) is a phenominal way to combine my intellectual passions with my desire to see concrete action taken on an important issue. I have enjoyed so much working with and learning from all the people in the group, and I am excited to see how and to what extent this group will expand and grow. I'm also excited to leave my own mark on the group, and hope to help see many ideas and projects to fruition as steps on the way to a sustainable, community-focused and more compassionate society.
