Month: November 2020

In Braiding Sweetgrass, the chapter, Allegiance to Gratitude, uses the daily Pledge of Allegiance as insight to how we should be thinking of the Earth. The Earth deserves our utmost respect, and a daily reminder is due of the allegiance we owe to it. I really enjoyed reading it along with the class — hearing from a diversity of voices was great way to give thanks to the Earth. After reading the thanksgiving to the planet, I believe that a shortened version should replace the classic Pledge of Allegiance to the flag everyday. Of course, that is not likely — but I have seen a trend of more and more people not standing to say the Pledge of Allegiance. Clearly, it does not matter enough to all kids — especially when everyone has different backgrounds and it becomes a bore to repeat the same thing on the daily. So, what would it mean to briefly acknowledge something great about the planet each day; perhaps every day, a new acknowledgement in the form of a haiku or reflection would be recited.

This spring, I had taken up more gardening than prior years. Due to the pandemic I had more time (fortunately or unfortunately?), as my hostess job was suspended and the semester was over by early May. I began growing tomatoes, different flowers, peppermint, and even a cactus. Only the tomatoes provided fruitful vegetation — the other plants did not want to grow strong. That was until I planted a few sunflowers; the seeds germinated overnight and by the end of the week, they were strong, happy stems. I thought the stems would remain pretty short, but they doubled in size each week — becoming sturdier and eventually taller than me. I hadn’t before acknowledged the strength and poise of sunflowers. In fact, when I was little, I thought sunflowers were ugly for their fuzzy brown center. Now, sunflowers being my favorite flower, I commend them for serving as a model to all plants: happy, confident, beautiful, and robust. I can relate this to the overall theme of the class reading, Braiding Sweetgrass, which is simply acknowledging the blessings that the Earth gives us. That is the problem with people nowadays — not enough of us recognize that we should be protecting our planet and the gifts it gives us. And we should always be giving thanks by acknowledging its beauty and speaking of nature’s currencies.

This week, the class discussed what an ideal world would look like. To me, an ideal world is different than a utopia, where everyone is the same and not allowed to breach the long-lived and well-kept utopian system. An ideal world, as I discussed with Sarah in class, would include a global consensus on climate change. This means that no one would be in opposition to it, so everyone would be on board with fixing the problem as a whole. Large corporations wouldn’t be as plentiful as they are, and they’d be regulated, so carbon emissions would be much lower and would have never reached the peak. Everyone would be protected with affordable healthcare, housing, food and clothing, as well as carbon-efficient transportation means. Ideally, cars could run on something as simple as apple juice! — Apples are sustainably grown and wouldn’t leave the air polluted. Violence would be much lower, as everyone would feel content with where they live and everyone is included.