Oh starry night. How pained, swirly, ferocious and frightening… yet beautiful, charming and dazzled with life you are. May twenty-seven, two-thousand-fifteen. Guys, today is my little brother’s birthday! And I made and sent him a card. [Yes, I made it! No I’m not twelve!! But I’ll admit, I am stubbornly opposed to paying upwards of $4-$8 for a thick piece of construction paper with someone else’s words, made from the earth’s limited and precious materials, and only to be distributed to hundreds, thousands, millions (?) of random people! And will they even get it? Like……. not get it, but get it?!?] Ok. Back on track. When my brother was born, he was just a wee four-pounds-something-ounces. And he had fuzzy, red, beautiful hair ALL over his body! He was a teeny-tiny human-monkey!!! And oh my! He was sooooooo so so so so cute! By the way, my sister and I were both over a decade older than him when he was born; so clearly (obviously), he became our real-life doll. But now all that red hair has moved to his beard. My ‘little’ brother is 22-years old today, and… He. Has. A. Beard!!! What is happening?! Today, (despite the ridiculousness regarding the card) there is a great distance between my brother and me – a great deal more than the physical miles between Colorado and Minnesota. It’s my deliberation, but not my choice. I made the conviction, and in the name of love and health, I will stick with it. This is a horrible place to be – for the both of us I’m sure. And my brother may hate me forever. But the hope is, one day, he will love and respect me more. Hope. I hope the anger and blame subsides with the days, weeks, years and wisdom. I hope that instead of anger, peace fills those cracks and crevices. And I hope that the sense of peace feels so good that it starts to grow in him! And grow exponentially. And only goodness comes from peace. So I hope, one day, my brother stands before me as the man we raised and love (and, by then, maybe trust, respect, and adore!). The card I made for my brother has an image of Van Gogh’s Starry Night on its front. I’m not very poetic. But I’m good at research. After choosing this very particular recycled card front among so many, I wondered why I was so drawn. According to one interpretation of the Van Goth masterpiece, even with the darkness of the night, it is still possible to see the light the windows of the houses. Brother, if you’re out there, even with the dark nights, I see your light. And your light will shine better than houses, better than skyscrapers, better than the SUN.
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Reader (if you’re out there. Anyone?), you ought to know the context of this blog. It’s inevitably going to be different from the majority.
*Sigh* As I sip on my warm milk – still with the inability to sleep, now at 2:39 a.m. – a thought comes to my mind. And I think it’s…decently profound! Then again, it is 2:41 a.m. Hmph. Regardless, here's the thought: We………………………we are (us humans, that is)… we’re…………… kind of…………like………… the same. We’re the same! Right?! YEAH! I mean, sure! Sure, we have our nuances; some of us have black hair; some of us have blond; some of us have thin hair (aka me… thanks mom); some have thick (forever jealous of you sister!). But whatever! Thick/thin, curly/kinky, we’re still the same!! We all have these strange, gangly, awkward legs and arms and rotundus, soft middle parts that set us far apart from the rest of the animal kingdom. We walk upright (Me so tall). We manipulate our environment with tools (Me make fire). We plant sticks in the ground and proclaim it ours (Me discover LAND. Land = mine.). Yet… we can’t really scurry up a tree with the greatest of ease. Seriously, guys! Take a moment in a park and watch a dang squirrel. Even an ant!! Try to mimic their fluidity and ease as they navigate parts of the world we avoid with all cause. Humans have instincts, but most of them we ignore. Perhaps we ignore them out of social convention. And yet, we are SO good at forming the most ugly and despondent inequalities……… among ourselves!! Think: hot button keywords such as, ‘Baltimore’, ‘ISIS’, ‘Ferguson’, ‘Threat level’. Tell me these words do not conjure emotion. Anger. Unrest. Disbelief. Fear. Confusion. But they are nouns. Not verbs. In their truest literary sense, they hath no power. Yet you are affected just by reading them. I had the pleasure of meeting and working with a delightfully quirky young lady as of late who mentioned to me, in passing, the wobble. [If you’re not familiar, you must learn! It’s fun!] So, me being the typical Millennial, I immediately turned to YouTube. And. Found. This: https://youtu.be/0vVjP1YsCcc Watch now, read the rest after. Or read the rest of my conclusion and then watch. Just make sure you do both. Here’s my takeaway: I believe more of the world’s problems can be solved by replacing hate with love; fear with compassion; distrust with eagerness to learn; guns and security forces… with folks doing the flipping wobble! Or I’m just sleep deprived. ;-) Good night world, ~V, 2:54 a.m. NERD ALERT!!! This girl – whether she meets the goal religiously, or only as a fair-weather fan – tries to pick up at least one piece of trash every day. At my ‘Contractor by Day, Environmental Enthusiast by Life’ (nine-to-five) job, I take a long walk every day (substituted on the rare occasion of rain, snow, or below 30 degree weather). To be honest, “walk” really isn’t an accurate word; it’s more of a hefty, lung-intense hike up a bunch of mountainous hills, followed by a shin-splinting jog back down. Basically, my reasons for doing this are two-fold: 1.) exercise is awesome, and 2.) sitting at a desk for eight+ hours every day, five days a week is. Just. Plain. WRONG!! [If I ever had employees, by the way, (and a budget to pay them) I would not allow for them to sit and stare at a computer for longer than six hours. Mark my words.].
So the result is, I get to get to clear my mind (and refrain from getting snippy with the lovely coworkers), and engage my muscles that were forced into sedentary lethargy. But there’s an unintended consequence of this, too. You see, when I go out into the world, particularly the parts of the world that are heavily or over-populated by the humans, I find myself muttering incomprehensible (thank goodness!) utterances of disgust at some of the sights. Exhibit A: When I see trash littered all over our green spaces and streets. It’s appalling! I mean, come on! I know some of this happens by accident, but much of it is due to laziness and a gross lack of respect for our home, Mother Earth. So, yah, maybe me picking up ~one piece of trash every day as I return from my daily walk won’t compleeeetely curb Climate Change. ;-) But it’s something gosh darnit! And it’s something that makes me think: what if every able bodied individual on this EARTH did the same? What power we have in our masses! |
AuthorVanessa Ann, a writer and environmentalist. She possesses a Master of Applied Science in Environmental Policy & Management from the University of Denver. Her writing, at times, can be... a little sarcastic with just a dash of snarky. Archives
June 2019
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Vanessa is also a long-time contributing author (and former President) for the Sustainability Alliance of the University of Denver. Check out her published newsletters here: Some Say the Debate is Over. Yet the Heat Won’t Seem to Go Away, November 2016 Corn. It’s In Everything & It’s No Bueno for the Environment, February 2016 The Pursuit of Sustainability, August 2015 |
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