Wild Places

“Humanity badly needs things that are big and fearsome and homicidally WILD. Counterintuitive as it may seem, we need to preserve those few remaining beasts, places, and forces of nature capable of murdering us with sublime indifference. We need the tiger, Panthera tigris, and the saltwater crocodile, Crocodylus porosus, and the grizzly bear, Ursus arctos, and the Komodo dragon, Varanus komodoensis…to remind us that Homo sapiens isn’t the unassailable zenith of all existence…”

--David Quammen, 1998
Deep Thoughts from Wild Places

Round Peg in a Square Hole

I had a helpful session with our department social scientist, Bob, today for my independent study developing an interview survey. He makes me feel excited about my study questions. We got talking about travel and nasty bathrooms and I admitted I used to “sit” (squat) on the Thai toilets backwards! He gave me the best complement (?) I have gotten in awhile – that I am a round peg in a square hole! Meaning that I am the type of student that advisor’s love (because I push the limits and explore and have an exciting project) and hate (because it is unknown and complicated and difficult). Talking with Bob renewed my enthusiasm and reminded me why I enjoy to travel and “rough it” for the pure experience of it.

Responsibility

Some observations from the “Art of Living” Course: I do feel more relaxed with a clear mind – similar to feelings after a particularly good Yoga class (except that we did minimal physical exercises). Today’s big question for discussion: What are we responsible for? Answer: Anything that I become aware of that I can change. The story: A boy and his grandfather were walking along the beach at low tide. The water was out and had left thousands of starfish stranded on the dry beach. The boy implored, “Grandpa, we must save them!” But, the old man replied, “ Son, we can’t even begin to save them all – that is just the way life is. It won’t matter.” Our efforts won’t matter. And they walked along. Further down the beach the boy looked down, picked up a starfish – plop – and flung it into the surf. “It mattered to that one.” And they walked a little farther down the sand and the boy reached down, picked up a starfish – plop – and flung it into the surf. “It mattered to that one…”