I really enjoy getting to read an article and then discuss it with other people. Getting to hear what other people took away from an article and their different perspectives on issues discussed in the article always makes me think about things in a new light. This week half of the class read an article and the other read a different article, each article taking the opposite stance of the other. The ‘yes’ article was about how globalization is compatible with sustainability, and the ‘no’ article stated that globalization is not.  I read the ‘no’ article and the author made many good points, but I didn’t fully agree their argument. The argument was that the only way to save the planet was for a complete cultural shift. I agree with this, but only partly. Some points I brought up in our discussion were that this strategy would take a very long time to actually have any results, if any at all. I think that by having a completely new way of life forced on everyone, many people will refuse to follow it. The way the author described this new way of life seemed almost like he was setting the stage for a new movie. It came off as unrealistic. After listening to my other group members give a short overview of the ‘yes’ article, we decided that we agree more with it. We agreed that globalization is compatible with sustainability if there is a free market, there are use regulations, and a very slow change in the social paradigm so that sustainability is something everyone begins to care about, which partially aligns with the ‘no’ article. I also agreed with many of the things said in the larger group discussion. For example I agree that it’s going to take some fear and some kind of financial incentive for sustainability and saving the earth to become something that people really care about. An example of this today is that there are huge wildfire burning in California, but are not getting hardly any news coverage because of the upcoming presidential election, and all of the other crazy stuff going on like Covid-19. The same thing happened with the wildfires in Brazil.

                Another thing I have enjoyed these past two weeks is exploring mindfulness. Before the lecture last week, I had very little knowledge of that I actually was and just thought that all it consisted of emptying your mind, but it is actually the opposite. Some of the things that really stuck with me from this lecture were that mindfulness is actually just breathing and opening your mind to the things around you, that you are supposed to let your thoughts flow in and out without judging them as good or bad and not holding on to them opposed what I thought you were supposed to do. I really like that aspect of mindfulness, not judging my thoughts as good or bad.  Throughout these past two weeks I have been practicing mindfulness before I go to bed each night. I have had a very good experience with it because by doing it before I go to sleep, it helps me to cleanse my mind or worries and stress allowing be to fall asleep better. It’s nice to sit still and let the thoughts of the day run through my mind and be able to let them go and not worry about the for the rest of the night. For the five minutes that I do it I sit on my bed with my legs crossed, my hands palms up on my knees, with my eyes closed and listen to the white noise of my fan. The first few times I did it my dog wasn’t sure what I was doing and kept bothering me. But after doing it two or three times, I like to think that she participates too because she lays on my bed and tries to stay still and quiet. All in all, I really like mindfulness and I think I am going to continue to practice it.