I started off my blog by making 20 resolutions/predictions for the year ahead. Let's take a look and see how it all went...
1. to see a bamboo forest. Hmmm, well, no, didn't do that... To be honest I'm not really even sure where to find a bamboo forest around here... maybe next year in Japan.
2. to stand on the Great Wall of China. Okay... off to a slow start. No China yet.
3. to go swimming in the ocean in every place possible. Thailand, Japan, Korea, the Philippines... not bad, not bad.
4. to hear wild elephants trumpet in Chiang Mai. Saw, played with, kissed, fed and heard plenty of elephants in Chiang Mai... magical
5. to smell the cherry blossoms in spring time. I even took a picture, Korean style...
6. to taste sushi in Japan. I did this just in time, as I've now given up seafood.
7. to touch an ancient Buddha. I have had my Buddha fill over here and it never gets old.
8. to learn to meditate in a temple. I never wrote a post on the temple stay I did in Korea recently, but we did in fact practice several types of meditation in a temple.
9. to remember how transient life is. A work in progress. I still try to be mindful of this whenever possible.
10. to forget my limitations. Did that on more than a few occasions... Sometimes it doesn't have quite the desired effect...
11. to keep up with my yoga! Happy to report I have done this. I took an amazing Hatha (hot) yoga class with Maddy just last night!
12. to read at least five modern classics. I've read about 45,000 books so far this year, so I'm going to consider this accomplished. The best? Tropic of Cancer, Murakami's short stories, Shadow of the Wind, and The Heart of the World by Ian Baker
13. to find new friends in unusual places. This I have done for sure. (Read my blog for proof!!)
14. to write about fear and loneliness. My blogs seem to be overwhelmingly positive, which has matched my mood this year. I have to say I have never been so consistently and overwhelmingly content and my writing has reflected it. I think I was very nervous (and still home!) when I made this list. Still, I'd like to delve into these emotions.
15. to travel to a place whose name I don't even know yet. Koh Chang, Koh Phi Phi, Krabi, Busan, Tsushima, every suburb/dong in Seoul, Boracay... the list continues...
16. to teach with passion, commitment, and silliness in proper doses. I couldn't begin to comment on this. I love teaching, I want to be a good teacher, I try to be a good teacher. There are also days when I just can't find the motivation.
17. to conquer the Korean language... or maybe just learn a few conversational bits... BA HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! No, but seriously.... BA HA HA HA HA HA!!
18. to say yes to new opportunities even when i feel like being a hermit. I'd like to thank Maddy for helping me accomplish this one...
19. to organize a trip to Bali. Oh Bali, plane tickets to you are very expensive, so your cousin the Philippines won out. I want to see you so bad. Let's play next year. Your friend, Brittany
20. to plan another year as if it were my last. 20 '10 Resolutions doesn't have the same ring to it, but I'll have to come up with something equally genius before I fly off to paradise.
Showing posts with label resolutions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label resolutions. Show all posts
Monday, December 21, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
The Cove
I recently watched the highly acclaimed documentary, The Cove, and I found myself both deeply disturbed and deeply inspired... by things I didn't know, and by things I've known but ignored.
The documentary was created as an attempt to expose the atrocious dolphin slaughters occurring in Taiji, Japan, where about 23,000 are killed per year. It also points to the hypocrisy and cruelty of the captive dolphin industry and the dangers of mercury poisoning and overfishing to the future of our health and our oceans.
As I said, I had known about Taiji, but hadn't really educated myself. I've also known about the destruction of the oceans due to our inexhaustible demand for fish. This demand, if left unchecked, will lead to the collapse of our oceanic ecosystem, and much sooner than we think.
As a committed vegetarian, I could point out that the dolphin slaughters are easily comparable to factory farming in the United States. Hidden cameras there had the same profound effect upon my conscience and would surely equally shock film festival audiences. But why then, besides a brief stint a year ago, have I continued to consume seafood? How can I support the fishing industry in good conscience?
Growing up on the shores of Rhode Island (the Ocean State) the sea was my playground, my caretaker, and teacher. When I tortured my mother during the last hot months of her pregnancy, she floated in the sea for hours on end for relief. The soft rolling of the waves was my very first lullaby. Growing up by the sea, I learned to contemplate, respect, and love it. I believe the salt is in my blood.
It's difficult for me, however, to separate my idyllic memories of the sea from the smell of steaming clams, swordfish blackened on the grill, and flounder baked with buttery breadcrumbs. These things taste good, but as all things, they have a price. For me I think this price as become too high and I can no longer afford to enjoy these things. I can no longer support an industry that has been allowed to run wild.
I remember the first time I put a mask over my eyes and descended into the underwater world. I remember the first coral reef I ever laid my eyes upon, the schools of fish in technicolor and the seaweed dancing rhythmically beneath rolling swells. Now, I try to imagine descending in twenty years and finding it all destroyed.
A few weeks ago, I watched a short video which upset me enough to stop me from eating seafood. So far it has been a tentative cessation, but after watching The Cove, I've decided to make my New Year's Resolution: No More Seafood.
For those of you reading to learn about Korea, I am sorry this post is off topic. I am writing this now to draw attention to this well made, riveting and very worth while documentary, NOT to convince people to make decisions such as the one I have made. In fact, the documentary does not attempt to dissuade people from eating seafood. It is simply a causal connection I made on my own. One I think I have been trying to make for a long time. I am declaring my intentions publicly as a way to hold myself accountable.
As the film so aptly stated, you can either be one of two things "an activist or an inactivist" and though I feel I've lost my way somewhat this past year. I hope to remain the former.
To view the trailer or find more information please visit:
http://thecovemovie.com/
http://www.takepart.com/thecove
Below is the film synopsis, taken from the official website:
The Cove begins in Taiji, Japan, where former dolphin trainer Ric O’Barry has come to set things right after a long search for redemption. In the 1960s, it was O’Barry who captured and trained the 5 dolphins who played the title character in the international television sensation “Flipper.”
But his close relationship with those dolphins – the very dolphins who sparked a global fascination with trained sea mammals that continues to this day -- led O’Barry to a radical change of heart. One fateful day, a heartbroken Barry came to realize that these deeply sensitive, highly intelligent and self-aware creatures so beautifully adapted to life in the open ocean must never be subjected to human captivity again. This mission has brought him to Taiji, a town that appears to be devoted to the wonders and mysteries of the sleek, playful dolphins and whales that swim off their coast.
But in a remote, glistening cove, surrounded by barbed wire and “Keep Out” signs, lies a dark reality. It is here, under cover of night, that the fishermen of Taiji, driven by a multi-billion dollar dolphin entertainment industry and an underhanded market for mercury-tainted dolphin meat, engage in an unseen hunt. The nature of what they do is so chilling -- and the consequences are so dangerous to human health -- they will go to great lengths to halt anyone from seeing it.
Undeterred, O’Barry joins forces with filmmaker Louis Psihoyos and the Oceanic Preservation Society to get to the truth of what’s really going on in the cove and why it matters to everyone in the world. With the local Chief of Police hot on their trail and strong-arm fishermen keeping tabs on them, they will recruit an “Ocean's Eleven”-style team of underwater sound and camera experts, special effects artists, marine explorers, adrenaline junkies and world-class free divers who will carry out an undercover operation to photograph the off-limits cove, while playing a cloak-and-dagger game with those who would have them jailed. The result is a provocative mix of investigative journalism, eco-adventure and arresting imagery that adds up to an urgent plea for hope.
The documentary was created as an attempt to expose the atrocious dolphin slaughters occurring in Taiji, Japan, where about 23,000 are killed per year. It also points to the hypocrisy and cruelty of the captive dolphin industry and the dangers of mercury poisoning and overfishing to the future of our health and our oceans.
As I said, I had known about Taiji, but hadn't really educated myself. I've also known about the destruction of the oceans due to our inexhaustible demand for fish. This demand, if left unchecked, will lead to the collapse of our oceanic ecosystem, and much sooner than we think.
As a committed vegetarian, I could point out that the dolphin slaughters are easily comparable to factory farming in the United States. Hidden cameras there had the same profound effect upon my conscience and would surely equally shock film festival audiences. But why then, besides a brief stint a year ago, have I continued to consume seafood? How can I support the fishing industry in good conscience?
Growing up on the shores of Rhode Island (the Ocean State) the sea was my playground, my caretaker, and teacher. When I tortured my mother during the last hot months of her pregnancy, she floated in the sea for hours on end for relief. The soft rolling of the waves was my very first lullaby. Growing up by the sea, I learned to contemplate, respect, and love it. I believe the salt is in my blood.
It's difficult for me, however, to separate my idyllic memories of the sea from the smell of steaming clams, swordfish blackened on the grill, and flounder baked with buttery breadcrumbs. These things taste good, but as all things, they have a price. For me I think this price as become too high and I can no longer afford to enjoy these things. I can no longer support an industry that has been allowed to run wild.
I remember the first time I put a mask over my eyes and descended into the underwater world. I remember the first coral reef I ever laid my eyes upon, the schools of fish in technicolor and the seaweed dancing rhythmically beneath rolling swells. Now, I try to imagine descending in twenty years and finding it all destroyed.
A few weeks ago, I watched a short video which upset me enough to stop me from eating seafood. So far it has been a tentative cessation, but after watching The Cove, I've decided to make my New Year's Resolution: No More Seafood.
For those of you reading to learn about Korea, I am sorry this post is off topic. I am writing this now to draw attention to this well made, riveting and very worth while documentary, NOT to convince people to make decisions such as the one I have made. In fact, the documentary does not attempt to dissuade people from eating seafood. It is simply a causal connection I made on my own. One I think I have been trying to make for a long time. I am declaring my intentions publicly as a way to hold myself accountable.
As the film so aptly stated, you can either be one of two things "an activist or an inactivist" and though I feel I've lost my way somewhat this past year. I hope to remain the former.
To view the trailer or find more information please visit:
http://thecovemovie.com/
http://www.takepart.com/thecove
Below is the film synopsis, taken from the official website:
The Cove begins in Taiji, Japan, where former dolphin trainer Ric O’Barry has come to set things right after a long search for redemption. In the 1960s, it was O’Barry who captured and trained the 5 dolphins who played the title character in the international television sensation “Flipper.”
But his close relationship with those dolphins – the very dolphins who sparked a global fascination with trained sea mammals that continues to this day -- led O’Barry to a radical change of heart. One fateful day, a heartbroken Barry came to realize that these deeply sensitive, highly intelligent and self-aware creatures so beautifully adapted to life in the open ocean must never be subjected to human captivity again. This mission has brought him to Taiji, a town that appears to be devoted to the wonders and mysteries of the sleek, playful dolphins and whales that swim off their coast.
But in a remote, glistening cove, surrounded by barbed wire and “Keep Out” signs, lies a dark reality. It is here, under cover of night, that the fishermen of Taiji, driven by a multi-billion dollar dolphin entertainment industry and an underhanded market for mercury-tainted dolphin meat, engage in an unseen hunt. The nature of what they do is so chilling -- and the consequences are so dangerous to human health -- they will go to great lengths to halt anyone from seeing it.
Undeterred, O’Barry joins forces with filmmaker Louis Psihoyos and the Oceanic Preservation Society to get to the truth of what’s really going on in the cove and why it matters to everyone in the world. With the local Chief of Police hot on their trail and strong-arm fishermen keeping tabs on them, they will recruit an “Ocean's Eleven”-style team of underwater sound and camera experts, special effects artists, marine explorers, adrenaline junkies and world-class free divers who will carry out an undercover operation to photograph the off-limits cove, while playing a cloak-and-dagger game with those who would have them jailed. The result is a provocative mix of investigative journalism, eco-adventure and arresting imagery that adds up to an urgent plea for hope.
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