Logan Wills

Over the past week I have tasked myself with two daily challenges that to start I was unsure about, but as the days went on my views began to change. The two challenges that I took part in were a 20 minute nature walk and 10 minutes of simple meditation. My original plan was to get up and take a walk around campus or even downtown in the morning before my classes. However, this plan quickly changed. I am not a big fan of the cold early mornings and these walks quickly transitioned into afternoon walks to the gym. There were pros and cons to this challenge, and I’m not sure if it was the challenge itself or the way that I chose to partake in it. It was peaceful somedays walking to the gym, and it even served as a nice warm up before getting in the gym. The issues on the other hand came on the walk home. On days when the weather was subpar, whether it was rainy or just straight cold walking home after a sweaty workout was anything but enjoyable. As the weather warmed up later in the week I started to enjoy this task a little more, even taking the time this weekend to try out a new walking trail along the Susquehanna River. Being able to see the beauty of the water was much more enjoyable than walking home cold and wet. The meditation challenge was the one that really opened my eyes. Freshman year I used an app called Headspace which had really good meditation practices. Unfortunately, after my subscription ran out I fell out of the habit. I wanted to use this challenge as an opportunity to find a new app, website, or even a possible youtube channel that provides a similar experience. What I ended up finding wasn’t what I initially intended but it has been a really enjoyable addition to my daily routine. I ended up using youtube to find daily yoga sessions which worked as both a physical and mental meditation in one. This has made me feel both mentally and physically better about myself each day. I really look forward to sticking with this challenge as the weeks go on.

In terms of moving forward with these tasks, there are no physical barriers keeping me from making these challenges a permanent way of life. The only thing keeping me from continuing with both is the mental block of spending time in the cold, dark winter days of Pennsylvania. Maybe after some more time I will find a way to find the beauty of nature even in the darker days. If I can do this I believe there is no reason why I shouldn’t make this a habit of everyday life.

In the next 4 weeks as we take on new challenges, I would like to find at least one but hopefully more daily tasks that I can make permanent in my life. It has been stated that individual action is not enough. We need a collective movement to fix the damages we have created, however as Solnit said “The revolution won’t happen by people staying home and being good”. We need to get out and make things happen. The authors behind climate science add to this by saying that if you want someone to take you seriously in your beliefs of climate change, you need to practice what you preach. Therefore, I am willing to make at least one of these changes permanent.

a) Looking at the possible challenges that can be taken, the categories that most excite me come from the nature and exercise categories. When I was younger I spent a tremendous amount of time outdoors, whether it was an activity with friends or just taking in nature, I feel that I spent much more time being active. This leads right into the next category that I am excited about. Exercising is something that has been important to me from a young age. I took pride in working out multiple times a week. Unfortunately, as of late I have fallen away from these aspects of my life, the older you get the more responsibility you have, and this has made it difficult to stay consistent. Prior to learning about the Eco Challenge, I challenged myself to get back into a workout routine and spend more time with friends outside. The thing that excites me most is that the challenge provides daily activities that I wouldn’t normally challenge myself to do. My hope is that the change in activities keeps it exciting and allows me to stick with it in the future. Now looking at the otherside, there is one major category that makes me nervous, and that is the food category. As a hunter, being able to eat the meat I harvested myself is something I enjoy. Therefore, missing out on red meat is out of my comfort zone. I’m also a pretty plain meat and potatoes type of person, I only eat a few types of fruits and hardly any vegetables at all. I believe finding a daily challenge in this category that isn’t something I already do on a daily basis will be the most difficult for me.

b) Tying into the readings, a category that really stuck out to me that has a major impact on my foot print is transportation. The emissions being produced by cars and other forms of transportation are killing our environment each and every day. I think Edward Abbey was successful in getting this point across when he said, “The Automobile which began as a transportation convenience, has become a bloody tyrant”. A few times he even mentions that the people driving cars are harming themselves just as bad because they are missing out on how nature is truly supposed to be seen. This is a concept that I’m starting to see more and more across the environmental studies courses I am taking. I plan to try to walk more this semester and see if I can notice the difference that a few of these others have mentioned.

c) When looking to see if small challenges can have an effect on the big picture, I found a quote from the reading Where I Lived, And What I Lived For from Henry David Thoreau where he said, “To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts. Every man is tasked to make his life, even in its details, worthy of the contemplation of his most elevated and critical hour”. To me I feel that he is calling to the importance of the details over the course of one's life and how they will be seen in their final hour from these details. I believe this is a great comparison to use to show that even though small, these daily challenges when added together day after day can make a difference. Whether it is the benefits of using less water, saving energy, or cutting back on transportation I believe all of the small challenges work towards addressing the drivers of the crisis we face.