The progress I have made on understanding a wicked problem through my mind, heart, and body has been what I expected, I understand and I know what needs to happen in order for them to be fixed but it just isn’t possible unless we work together. I will say that the first day in class immediately watching that video scared me, it made me not trust the ground that I walk on and question my life decisions. It made me angry at our species for doing such things to our world. If I am being honest I had no idea how badly we treat our earth, but then some part of me did know that our world was dying. We are connected to the earth and I think it has given us many warnings and signs to turn things around that we simply ignore. My mind was in space, I had so many thoughts and the hardest part of learning of these problems is knowing there isn’t anything that can be done to make a real big change and heal what we have destroyed, it makes me question have we already gone too far that we can’t turn things around? In my heart I feel passionately about our world’s wicked problems and I want to bring more attention to the seriousness of the condition of our earth. Everytime I feel sick or light headed I now think it is because of the air and how we have polluted it, or is it the unclean water I am drinking but don’t know it, I question everything I put in my body and try to recycle and eat as healthy as I can. I use my mindfulness practice a lot now and I have tried it when I have headaches and it makes them better. I close my eyes and listen to my heart and breathe. I also use it when thinking about wicked problems, it makes my heart race and hands sweaty thinking one day we will have destroyed so much nothing will be left and no one will know my name and how I helped fix things. It has changed my life for the better, especially moving to a different state so far from home. It’s scary and I feel overwhelmed with emotions so when I practice mindfulness it helps me get through the day and the tough times. It keeps me calm and focused during the day and I sleep better at night. Some examples of compassionate responses I have had towards wicked problems I think was how I reacted to finding out these problems. I immediately wanted to do something, or be a person who only helps the environment by recycling and not miss using its resources. I take faster showers, I use a washcloth instead of makeup wipes, I use rags instead of paper towels, I try not to buy water bottles and stick to my water filtered water and hydro flask. I told my family back home in California to please try and do better as I am trying to do for the environment and myself. I have also been telling my friends and my neighbors in my building to look at these problems and help too. I think the best way to spark change is to tell us about these problems early in our life when we are in middle school or even elementary school. I can remember even talking about taking can of our world and environment when I was young, yes it is very bad to litter all parents and teachers say that but never about pollution and bad air quality and I think we should start making parents and students aware earlier in their lives about these issues and communities all over would make a difference. The news channels should give weekly updates about pollution, air quality, toxic chemical leaks in water, soil erosion, and etc. They should also show the world how much carbon is released in the air each week from everywhere in the world, not just the U.S.. Another way to get people’s attention can be through celebrities, influencers, and social media. Big role models and superstars that people look up to and follow should be putting the word out to help save our world like Leonardo DiCaprio and his film the 11th hour. His film was amazing, it showed the urgency for these problems and made it clear we need to do something about it. Kim Kardashian, Kendall Jenner, Addison Raye are just three of so many celebrities that have huge platforms with millions of followers. They could use their platforms to get people’s attention and make a difference. I think the most important job of being a big face in the world is to guide people to do what’s right and bring light to important issues that we as a species need to make right. Although it still baffles me that we do so little as a whole to take care of our world, and the celebrities do nothing but ignore like the rest of the world, yes there are companies and people who are all green and doing good but it’s not enough, it takes all of us. There are people we regulate and monitor how much carbon is released and it should be less and they should say figure it out because we are better and smarter than this we can find a new way with what we are given to take away what is bad and find a sustainable solution. I am confident in myself that I will always better the world around me and do my part in healing our world. Wicked problems are called wicked for a reason, the world wicked should scare people because they can destroy us if we can’t keep fighting for a healthy planet. I accept that right now we don’t have the technology to become fully a sustainable and healthy planet but we have time for now and I believe in our futures. Mindfulness practice is underrated and people should give it another chance, it helps with stress, anxiety, and insomnia. Since I have moved into my dorm I do not think I have had one good night sleep until I did mindfulness practice before bed and I have been sleeping through the night more often.