Earth Abides Farm

On November 7-9, I went to the farm retreat with a handful of my peers. This was an amazing experience and I completely enjoyed the hospitality of Tom and Marcus. They've shown us their passion and shared their interests. This was one of those unplugged weekend retreats where technology and electronics were not a factor in our day to day activities. I learned how to save planting seeds and how they worked their farm throughout the year. They definitely needed our help and we were all glad to assist them. Two other girls and I had the pleasure of doing the dirty work shoveling dirt onto a truck and transporting it. It was well worth it because we had delicious meals the whole weekend. The sites that we were able to view and explore are amazing and so serene.

Women's Education and Empowerment

On October 20th, I went to the chapel to hear Dr. Sakena Yacoobi speak about her story and how she became an idol figure. Her wise words gave me inspiration to live life with a purpose. Not only was she speaking of women, but she was also speaking for men. Her goals are to give women an opportunity for a fighting chance in this world and to show men how to really act. My roommate volunteered to be on the committee to welcome her, and I am so proud of her for stepping up. Dr. Yaboobi's work is an inspiration and her will to fight for women's rights is empowering.

Black Mountain

On October 4th-5th, most of the Biophilia class went on a backpacking trip on Black Mountain Reserve. It was definitely a new experience for me, especially because it's not with my family. Even though we went with a group from class, it still felt as if I was independent. The area was really beautiful and it felt as if I was closer to nature. At the end of saturday, we were able to watch the sunset. That was a really majestic sight to witness. I also got to try vegan food that night and thought it was interesting. Overall, it was a tiring journey, but it was worth it. It was a good experience to see nature without distractions.

Potrero Nuevo Farm

On September 11, we went to Potrero Nuevo Farm. There, we learned about how they grow every things with the help of volunteers. Normally, they would have fields full of flowers and vegetables, but they didn't due to the drought. As a class, we cut bunches of Lavender for a future project of theirs. We also dug up potatoes. The owners are very selfless and caring people. Their work really impacts the community and utilizes the resources the land provides.

RA Henna Tattoo Session

My RA, Jojo, hosted a henna tattoo session for our floor. It was held in the lawn in front of the mansion on blankets we each brought. She got to know us better and vice versa. Not everyone went but it was still fun. She talked about the history of henna and immigration. She's very inspiring and very involved with activities on campus.

Journey of the Universe

Class discussion - 09/05/14 

The earth is alive. 

The universe is a self regulating organism. All of the organisms work together to live. 

Evolution. 

Survival of the fittest took place. A random gene in the organism make them better adapted to the environs and evolve. 

Human learning is a lot different because we are able to learn and change things. We learn through cultural evolution and teach by written or any other type of communication. It is, however, easy to stop in an instant in a generation if you don't write it down or pass it on. 

Flexibility is also a huge part of how we self regulate.

Life adapts. Life remembers. Life learns. 

As humans we need to take care of the earth and understand that everything is alive. 

Journey to the Universe

09/05/14

The stunning creation of our world is phenomenal, but the creation of just our universe is unbelievable. The creativity it took to design and create was brilliant. Every part that was used to create us was a probably. We are made up from different sized pieces. Some are more intricate than others. I'm practicing mindfulness in another class and a part of that is opening your site to notice things you've never seen before. During my practices, I notice the earth more and how beautiful it is. This book opened up my eyes of how things can be so beautiful yet so complex. 

A part of our roles on earth is to take care of it. We must take care of it. As I said in my prior posts, the world and universe are beautiful things. We are connected to anything and everything in way. With the world slowly deteriorating, we have to care for it. The universe is alive and breathing. We are its creations and our duty is to look after our creator. We may be by chance, but everything around us was created to accommodate us. 

Journey of the Universe

09/03/14

What struck you the most? In what way did the reading help you develop respect for the stars and such things? 

The way they spoke of the stars was very interesting. It helped me realize how unique I am. I'm starting to open my eyes and see the living things in this world and how closely related we are to the rest of the universe. Stars are our distant ancestors and each one is like another universe. It helped to depend my respect for the interconnectedness of life on earth. We are all connected to the plants, animals, insects, stars and all living things. Plant uses the process of photosynthesis to make food and energy. We use these plants for used including food and energy. 

Journey of the Universe

 09/03/14

As humans, we started out not knowing about our universe or how it came to be. We found ourselves staring up at the stars and wondering what else could be out there. Day and night, the sky is beautiful and reflects on our universe's eccentric beauty. It's interesting to think of how we acted before the innovation of modern technology. A lot of people followed different religions and believed their theories of creation, but there are a good number of people who, might or might not belong to a religion, used their creative minds to seek out the unknown answers. 

I never thought about comparing the universe to the blood pumping through our veins or our breathing pattern. Some may say that doesn't make sense, but I agree with this idea. The universe isn't just a universe where things float around in space. The universe is alive and so are the millions and millions of other universes out there. It is alive and pumping and moving and breathing. 

Going back to the night sky, it is easy to catch yourself looking up at the stars. I've never heard of how stars have to do with how creation came to be. The idea does sound interesting. Stars can be a simple thing, but they can be as complex as our universe. I know they're as complicated as our universe because they could also be their own universe as well. That was not the case for our so-called ancestors. They thought the stars were our gods or some sort of mythical authoritative being. 

It's the sheer beauty of this planet that still ceases to amaze us. It's like the world wan't created for beauty, but it was made from beauty.