Posts tagged with "language"

Logic versus Emotion

Suffering from a real sense of frustration as I write this, which I’m not sure is the best state of mind to be writing a blog, but anyway…

I think I’m picking this up elsewhere in other people’s blogs, and maybe this is all “part of the process”, but the frustrations are multi-layered for me at the moment. A list might be in order, as cogent sentences are tricky right now:

1. It this all just a bunch of middle-class, indulgent nonsense? It’s definitely felt like that sometimes - particularly the look on some people’s faces when you try to explain. I’ve certainly failed in trying to explain it to my hairdresser… a story for another blog…

2. How do you move this beyond a small group of individuals who have had incredibly transformative experiences through their personal encounters with nature, to something which makes mass impact? That really was on my mind as I raced along the street in the pouring rain the other day, caught short in my reveries of the rain on the solo day in beautiful Knoydart by the sight of a homeless man, sat outside a shop, resigned as the downpour fell on him. I bet it’s unlikely he finds beauty anywhere, and that makes my heart hurt.

3. Language, language, language - the communications bit is driving me crazy (which I suppose you’d expect from an ex-tabloid hack). Thinking that if I’m going to take my responsibilities to this project seriously, I need to get more informed, I went to an event on climate change. It was completely and absolutely impenetrable. No wonder people retreat to recycled bags and energy-saving lightbulbs, it’s a darn sight easier. I was left feeling stupid (and I’m not, I’m a smart person - not academic - but smart) - by all the language and theories. But when I spoke to someone after it, they were dismissive, vehemently saying that the ubiquitous “Top 10″ recycling tips just aren’t enough to save us. Which left me thinking: “Well, if they aren’t, someone’s going to have to find a new way of making this accessible” - and, as Dave’s recent post http://www.naturalchange.org.uk/dave-key/dont-despair/  points out, making people feel like the end of the world is nigh ‘aint gonna cut it.

4. Lastly to the title of this post - logic versus emotion. This is how it feels - the logical arguements overwhelming the emotion. I still feel the experience of that first weekend so strongly -I’ve not lost it, despite the “blankets” of daily life - but it does feel, if not diminished, then not powerful enough, on it’s own, to change things. And yet…what the people who have responded to these blogs have shown, it is the emotional side of things which touches them, which moves them: comments on personal testimony, on pictures, on poetry, are clear enough signs of that. Is that the path to natural change? But how does that sit with the arguements over scale of response?

I’m drifting into territory I don’t yet know how to express. There is no neat conclusion to this blog for me - just a jumble of questions - but maybe you have some thoughts you want to share?

Land of the living…?

Back from Knoydart for a few days, and it’s been an intriguing continuation of the journey. Lot of emotion and confused thoughts - ranging from pure rage at discovering on my first day back that they are going to tear the beautiful trees down outside my office to make way for the trams (and feeling so helpless about my power to stop it); to a real feeling of renewed perspective, with a counter-balancing awareness that keeping the sense of “connectedness” that all of us have written about is going to have its challenges.

But I do - after a week of intense city-dwelling, including a trip to London - have an overwhelming urge to be outside, despite the rain. My first convert is my husband, who arrived home today with his own pair of brand new walking boots - yaay! So any recomendations for some good walks around the Lothians very welcome!

The language thing is still my big issue - trying to explain what I’ve been doing to people has been tough, no getting away from it. And I have worried more about what people would think than perhaps I should. But reactions have been interesting - people I thought would laugh out loud have been curious and even envious, whilst others who I had predicted would “get it” have looked strangely bemused.

The other thing that is dawning on me is that there is a whole hinterland of academia surrounding this that I simply wasn’t aware of - from psychology, to environmentalism, to creativity and expression. Being the type I am, I’m tempted to start ploughing into theories and books (confession - have actually bought some already), but a part of me is resistant to it. So what if whatever I’m feeling and experiencing can be explained by Jung? But then, I’m part of a research project - a guinea-pig - so in the end, it is likely that secondary research like that will be drawn out, and parallels and assertions made. However, it reminded me of a poem that my Uncle Rae wrote for me before he died, in answer to me always asking the childlike question “why?” about everything. It’s buried in another book somewhere - will have to find it now - but essentially it was all about not always asking why (why is the sky blue? how can birds fly?), because in doing so; in forensically tearing things apart to see how it all works, you can lose the magic - and that’s what I really don’t want to do…

Beyond cynicism

One of the key questions of this whole project is: what does it feel like to experience change? The “change” we are talking about is our sense of the world around us, the context of the destruction we are wreaking on the planet. But – and as I order my thoughts this is becoming clearer – any change has to start at an individual level. So, that’s the process we are going through – and I have to say it feels challenging; and it feels difficult, but it also feels like a reconnection with something “right”. Oh dear, verging into “new age” territory there, and that’s a danger with this whole exercise I suppose – so much if the language about our respect for the earth and existing alongside all other life forms, shares a lexicon with that movement. I’m sure that must be a barrier to this kind of work and approach. But you get a sense that this (whatever this is) was here first – centuries ago – and that it has been hijacked in some way – with charlatans and those seeking to make profit from people’s vulnerabilities meaning the true message has been lost. So, I’m trying to keep my cynicism at bay, and also trying to find a way of expressing all of this which would pass the “Glasgow taxi driver” test – try explaining to him in a way that rings true!