Braiding Sweetgrass Reflection #3

As impactful I have found these last few passages of the book to be, I must say I am unsure what I have to say about them. Much of the discussion of the Windigo has reflected my own feelings about Capitalist mindsets and consumerist attitudes, but I have little to say beyond agreeing with them. Over and over I have tried to write this reflection and make some sort of connection beyond “I liked it, and I agree with Kimmerer” but I have had difficulty getting beyond that.

Instead, I have decided to write about just how engaging and important this whole book has been to me in this last few weeks. I truly do not believe I would have been able to submit any of these reflections if I had not enjoyed and so thoroughly needed to read what Kimmerer has written here. The “climax”, if we can call it that, of the book, “Defeating Windigo”, is so incredibly cathartic after having read page after page of Kimmerer establishing her collection of indigenous values and perspectives. It is truly inspiring, even if only in narrative form, to see the ideals of colonialism and capitalism drowned out by ones of compassion, of responsibility, and of a desire for a world worth living in. I cried when I first read it. I needed this book and I am glad I have had a second chance to explore it.

Reflection 3

For this final reflection I was definitely a little late to the game, but it happened to be a good day because today I officially end my first year of college. Yesterday I decided to take the opportunity of a free day from work to go outside and be around nature. Trees, flowers and the cutest animals can be found in any Portland park but my favorite has to be Mt.Tabor. It’s a place large enough that even if there are many people you can find a quiet and calm place to have a picnic at. So that’s what I decided to do, I packed a picnic basket with delicious vegetarian goodies and headed to Tabor with a couple of my closest friends. We had a great time and even took ten minutes to lay down on the blanket and just listen to the sound of nature; It was awesome. After the picnic I was craving some new plants to buy, so we headed to the cutest plant store on Stark st and bought some beautiful plants for our rooms. After getting home I felt like I completed a fantastic day and felt free.

Reflection 3

For this reflection, I chose to go to Cathedral park with a whole bunch of art supplies and simply just create some art with my friend. Not only was it very relaxing, but it was engaging. The views were amazing, the weather was not super hot and not super cold. Overall I highly recommended doing this and taking time for yourself in nature. Cathedral Park is a 20 minute drive from where I live and for me, being able to blast music for the entirety of my car ride is amazing and makes me feel good. Before arriving at the park we actually got some food from a little Italian place called, Gabagool. There flatbread was amazing and if you live in that area you should check it out! We had a little picnic and then we began painting. My Grandpa is actually an artist that lives in Barcelona and he inspires me to paint, although I can never be as good as him, I always ask him for advice. We used canvas and acrylics that we bought at Michaels and we spent about two and a half hours just talking and painting. It was very therapeutic.

Reflection #2

For this reflection, I decided that it was the perfect time and possible *excuse to go and buy plants! I am the type of person that will unlife plants, so I decided to hit up my good friend, Aniya, and ask her about the beginner plants I should buy to raise. She suggested I get a peperomia, spider plant, and a Madagascar dragon tree plant. These are all super easy to take care of and are recommended for beginners. I needed to find plants that don’t demand too much of my attention and time and these were the easiest options for me. I also did extensive research on this and I have found so many ones that I want, but I am first going to start off with those three and see how it goes from there. Since Aniya is a girl boss and has her own plant business, she can get me into plant stores that are *exclusive*. 😉 Another reason why I needed to buy plants is because I am redoing my whole room and its currently all white with no color and I believe that plants add so much to a room, not only aesthetically but also the energy they bring is immaculate. House plants are amazing for your health and a study done by NASA shows that they can remove up to 87% of air toxin within 24 hours! They have also proven that these plants can improve concentration and productivity, which is something I struggle with on the daily.

Braiding Sweetgrass Reflection #2

(I have opted to write my second response while listening to Appalachian Spring, composed by Aaron Copland, a piece of music briefly mentioned by Kimmerer.)

As Kimmerer told her story of teaching as a professor in the Smokies, I recalled my experience as a student here at PSU, specifically with an ESM course taught by Patrick Edwards, in which I had a similar retreat into the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest to conduct experiments. While I had not thought of it consciously at the time, the land had certainly taught me, just as it had taught Kimmerer’s students.

While I certainly applied my scientific knowledge in collecting river insects and measuring flow, I spent far more of my time mystified by where I found myself.I was taught then, by my surroundings, to look deeply into the vast walls of trees, or the moist soil below me. I found all sorts of wonderful flora and fauna, and I welcomed them. After all, I had to pick bugs out of a stream, so being off-put by whatever writhing creature presented itself to me was not really an option. One sight, a large lobster mushroom submerged partially by soft dirt, absolutely captured my attention and stopped me in my tracks.

I found myself establishing a sense of place far greater in a few days than my months of being in downtown Portland had founded.

(Having finished the piece, I really enjoyed the melodies playing off of each other around 4 minutes in. The rest is a bit cliche, but no doubt pretty.)

Braiding Sweetgrass Reflection #1

Who had raised me like the strawberry had raised Kimmerer?
I grew up in the Bay Area, and most of my experiences were well within the suburb. This is not to say I didn’t have any experiences with the “natural world”, but I find it hard to claim as deep a connection as Kimmerer describes.

I have fond memories of the plum tree on my front lawn, the eucalyptus trees in the local park, this one bush that had fragrant leaves, but by now I am lost in a series of “oh, that one time(s)” and I have no cohesive picture. I have no lessons, no informed worldview.

One unified feature of all these experiences I have plenty of, however, is sensory memory.
I can remember how eucalyptus bark feels in my hand, the aforementioned scent of the bush, the taste of a fresh red plum. As someone who frequently blanks on even very recent memories (such as when to submit assignments), being pulled back into a long-lost one by sensory input can be one of the most intimate and emotional experiences I can have.

In the same sense that a strawberry gives a gift as fruit, I feel I have been given the gift of waxy leaves, dense branches, and fragrant flowers, all within grasp, for my young self to soak up, and my current self to get all worked up over.

Reflection #3

For this reflection, I decided to something else. Something that can describe some of the beauty of the nature of our land. I decided to go outside as usual, walking, listening to relaxation music, but I added something else. I took some pictures to some of the beautiful moments in the day. Also, a thing about me, I really like the nature photos, and makes me feel good actually, and reduce the stress in me. Here’s some of the pictures that I took 🙂 I hope you like it.

Copyright Raad 2021

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Reflection 3

Since most of us are reaching the end of our school year I can only imagine the intense amount of stress everyone has been feeling- I know for myself, I am the most overwhelmed with school right now than I have felt in the last two terms. I started a new job with longer hours and have tried to balance my family and social life on top of that, let me just say, this has not been an easy task for me. Since I have been feeling so out of balance and it has been so nice outside, I have been spending as much time outside and at the river as possible. I still have had loads of homework, so I have been switching up my place of work from my house/work to the riverside. Since all our school work is all online, it leads to me being on my computer almost all day with class and homework so I tend to feel really ungrounded. There is so much going on around me all the time so it is nice to be productive, but also spend time in the open air. I have also been sharing this time with one of my best friends who I don’t get a lot of time with so the whole situation makes me even more fulfilled. Spending this time digging my feet in the sand and cleansing myself in the water helps me in so many ways- I thank mother earth for the time every day!

Reflection #3

I have been been spending a lot more time outside enjoying nature over the past couple of weeks. I have gone on hikes and meditated outside a lot of different times, but this week I decided to fully immerse myself in nature. I went camping with my family last weekend. We went to South Umpqua falls. Honestly, I’ve never been the biggest fan of camping and in the past I have thought that it was more work than it was worth. However, my mindset has really changed lately and I had a great time. I have really started seeing the beauty that is everywhere in nature, and I have started really appreciating it and being thankful that I am able to enjoy it. I went on a lot of walks on little hiking trails in the area and on Memorial Day we spent time at the natural waterslides and the little falls. The water was way too cold for me, but I spent time in the shade with my dog and had fun looking at the different creatures in the water. I was actually surprised that I spotted a crayfish in a little puddle. My exploration of nature will definitely continue this summer and I can’t wait to see what new adventures I can go on.

reflection #3

I recently got home to Salt Lake City, Utah after living downtown for the last 6 months. Living downtown is filled with distractions like the streetcar, the max, lots of people, other cars and bikes, horns, etc. The moment I got home I kept saying, “gosh it’s so quiet”. I have been living downtown for about 6 months now, and I got used to all the noise, but once I got home I realized how much distraction has been around me. My house is up in the mountains right below a trail head, so we are surrounded by forest and wildlife. The first morning I got here I sat on my deck and just existed. Listening to the birds, looking at the trees, breathing the thin air, made me realize how peaceful it is which is something I took for granted before I lived in a city. I’ve lived in the same place my whole life and never had thought about how grateful I am for the peace and quiet. My point is sometimes we don’t realize how beautiful our surroundings are until we are somewhere new and different. It’s such a beautiful thing that the Earth can give us a sense of security and peace, and I’m glad I finally realized that! I posted a sunset from the other night:)