In my opinion, I think that mindfulness is something everyone should attempt to understand and strive for. I have always thought of myself as someone who is self-aware in most situations of my life. If I make a decision, I think about the consequences beforehand and if I am portraying toxic traits I try to work on the things I am capable of changing. If people go about their daily lives not understanding what energy they put into the world, they will never fully be mindful and therefore, they will never fully be happy. With mindfulness comes happiness and with happiness comes healthiness and positive impact on the things around you. While watching Marc Cohen’s TED talk, I felt like I understood what it takes to be completely happy in life. He stated that the opposite of wellness is illness, “It is hard to be happy unless I’m well.” This means that, there is no way to be genuinely content unless every aspect of one’s life is in good condition. This also primarily includes the mind, which most people fail to take care of.

            After reading the Mindfulness and Sustainability excerpt, it got me to thinking about how everything in the world is connected in some way. If people would take the time to actively work on becoming more mindful, they would in turn learn to care about others and the world around them. This new found empathy would make them want to do more about the state of the world. If enough banded together and shared identical mindsets, it would be enough to make a genuine positive impact on the environment in no time. Earth is in the shape it is because the ones who are primarily responsible for it fail to understand the importance of being mindful. When looking at this domino effect, it is obvious that the health of the planet ultimately depends on the health of our minds.

            The wicked problem I chose to further investigate is the pollution of the ocean. While scrolling through many articles and reading the data for how much waste actually is in the water, all I could think was, “why is this a wicked problem?” The overall definition of the term is a problem that lacks one solid answer or solution. The number one way to stop the pollution of the ocean is simply to stop dumping trash and other harmful things into it. The simple concept has been made out to be one that is nearly impossible to solve. Although “it’s not as easy as it sounds”, it still is the most reasonable solution. People need to realize that we lived before these things were present in society, we can do it again.