Continuing from my last post, I would to like to further articulate (read: VENT) my reason for embarking on this journey and quest with Molly.
As much as on pains and embarrass me on some levels, my initial reason for making the decision – and the decision was made at this point and for this reason – was for love. I fell in love with Molly. She had spent the last two-to-two-and-a-half years travelling Australia studying sustainable communities, and had at least a year to go. So there were three options available to us:
As much as on pains and embarrass me on some levels, my initial reason for making the decision – and the decision was made at this point and for this reason – was for love. I fell in love with Molly. She had spent the last two-to-two-and-a-half years travelling Australia studying sustainable communities, and had at least a year to go. So there were three options available to us:
- That I suspend my PhD to travel with Molly, resuming my studies once Molly’s brings her/us to Tasmania;
- That Molly suspend her travels and research to live with me in Tasmania for as long as it takes me to finish my PhD, at which point we would then both leave to resume Molly’s studies;
- That we not be together until one or other of us has completed our respective research activities (or for Molly, those activities conducted on the mainland), at which point we - circumstances permitting – we pick up from where we left.
We quickly decided – independently of each other – that option three was unthinkable and very, very undesirable. I was in love; and damned if I was going to make this decision based on pragmatics rather than follow my heart. This left options one and two to consider. I considered these without discussing my thoughts – or even the fact that I was even giving any thought to the matter – with Molly. This was because I wanted to form a position of my own before broaching the subject with Molly.
I chose option one for two reasons really: firstly, and most importantly, I saw the work that Molly was doing, and the efforts she had put into it thus far, as being far more important and impassioned than my own - she was self-funded and very self-motivated: she was not treading a well-worn and supported path of education such as the one I chose – and I was concerned that should she suspend this work and lose her momentum, that she may never resume again. And again; I considered her topic, actual and potential outputs/outcomes and indeed reasons for pursuing this research to be of far more public value and vitality than my own.
Secondly, considering the final leg of Molly’s travels and research would bring her to Tasmania anyway, it was most likely that of the two options for suspending work – suspending mine or suspending Molly’s – it was the suspension of mine that would be the lesser time away from work for one of us.
However, two more positives that might arise from pursing option one soon came to surface in my consciousness - as if for love alone wasn't enough! One; that I could become better informed and more active in a cause that is close to both my heart and rational being. And two; that this journey and education may help me to, upon my return, reposition my PhD to a more specific frame of interest and inquiry that would both inspire more passion from me whilst potentially providing greater and more important benefits for a broader range of societal stakeholders.
And on that note the venting begins: I am sick of the ignorance, apathy and complacency that I find myself continually affronted with regarding the environment, global warming and alike. This from people who say they love nature, but never get out there amongst it, learn about it and take the time to truly understand it and how it’s degradation and loss will subsequently affect all cohabitants of this planet. I am sick of and sickened by people who say they are concerned about the environment but do no more to protect it than a bit of road-side recycling (as long as their local council make the process as un-labour-intensive as possible that is), café philosophising, brandishing bumper stickers with environmental slogans, and dropping coins into collection cans.
Worse still: I’m shit-scared of becoming one of those people myself! And it has been happening over the years – getting older and less active with assumptions that the fog of ignorance would lift from the general populace as they learn to negotiate mires of deception propagated by governments and media, and that the baton could or would be passed to a more informed and capable youth. And surely truths would prevail and people would accordingly become angry, active and empowered. But no: apathy and complacency still rule the psyche of our society. Hopes that the efforts of those already on frontlines and in war rooms waging battles of scientific and biotic righteousness would overcome the onslaught of lies, misinformation and corrupt self-interested actions of those in power have eroded and been dashed over time. Their minions are many while our empathy and concern for the long-term health of our planet succumbs to fears of fiscal and economic concerns that affect the individual.
And now, as things go from bad-to-worse-to-ridiculous the apathy just drains from my body, I get madder and madder, and subsequently more and more active, pro-active, and at times, aggressive – much like a cornered animal staring into the eyes of a predator that would wish it harm. And where as this welling of urgency and indignation has seen me commit more thought and energy to conscientious considerations, activity and activism, it has also seen me become more confused and uncertain as to what I should do; what I can do. So I now embrace this opportunity, and all that may flow from it, to make a difference. And I embrace love. I embrace love and all the good that may come of it - such as this. Thankyou Molly, for showing me true-purpose and, more importantly, true-love.
I chose option one for two reasons really: firstly, and most importantly, I saw the work that Molly was doing, and the efforts she had put into it thus far, as being far more important and impassioned than my own - she was self-funded and very self-motivated: she was not treading a well-worn and supported path of education such as the one I chose – and I was concerned that should she suspend this work and lose her momentum, that she may never resume again. And again; I considered her topic, actual and potential outputs/outcomes and indeed reasons for pursuing this research to be of far more public value and vitality than my own.
Secondly, considering the final leg of Molly’s travels and research would bring her to Tasmania anyway, it was most likely that of the two options for suspending work – suspending mine or suspending Molly’s – it was the suspension of mine that would be the lesser time away from work for one of us.
However, two more positives that might arise from pursing option one soon came to surface in my consciousness - as if for love alone wasn't enough! One; that I could become better informed and more active in a cause that is close to both my heart and rational being. And two; that this journey and education may help me to, upon my return, reposition my PhD to a more specific frame of interest and inquiry that would both inspire more passion from me whilst potentially providing greater and more important benefits for a broader range of societal stakeholders.
And on that note the venting begins: I am sick of the ignorance, apathy and complacency that I find myself continually affronted with regarding the environment, global warming and alike. This from people who say they love nature, but never get out there amongst it, learn about it and take the time to truly understand it and how it’s degradation and loss will subsequently affect all cohabitants of this planet. I am sick of and sickened by people who say they are concerned about the environment but do no more to protect it than a bit of road-side recycling (as long as their local council make the process as un-labour-intensive as possible that is), café philosophising, brandishing bumper stickers with environmental slogans, and dropping coins into collection cans.
Worse still: I’m shit-scared of becoming one of those people myself! And it has been happening over the years – getting older and less active with assumptions that the fog of ignorance would lift from the general populace as they learn to negotiate mires of deception propagated by governments and media, and that the baton could or would be passed to a more informed and capable youth. And surely truths would prevail and people would accordingly become angry, active and empowered. But no: apathy and complacency still rule the psyche of our society. Hopes that the efforts of those already on frontlines and in war rooms waging battles of scientific and biotic righteousness would overcome the onslaught of lies, misinformation and corrupt self-interested actions of those in power have eroded and been dashed over time. Their minions are many while our empathy and concern for the long-term health of our planet succumbs to fears of fiscal and economic concerns that affect the individual.
And now, as things go from bad-to-worse-to-ridiculous the apathy just drains from my body, I get madder and madder, and subsequently more and more active, pro-active, and at times, aggressive – much like a cornered animal staring into the eyes of a predator that would wish it harm. And where as this welling of urgency and indignation has seen me commit more thought and energy to conscientious considerations, activity and activism, it has also seen me become more confused and uncertain as to what I should do; what I can do. So I now embrace this opportunity, and all that may flow from it, to make a difference. And I embrace love. I embrace love and all the good that may come of it - such as this. Thankyou Molly, for showing me true-purpose and, more importantly, true-love.
