To me, it’s still crazy the amount of work it takes to make something amazing when you are interested versus when you are not. I have made it my mission this school year to challenge myself to choose topics for projects that connect to my identity, or to my values in some sort of way. Together, with this mission as well as my goal to create truly meaningful work throughout the year, I have learned a lot about myself and my work ethic.
In our most recent humanities project, we were given another opportunity to choose our path for understanding. Shore to the Core was a project that would cover North Vancouver’s history during the post-war era and the rise of the suburbs. After understanding the causes and consequences of the Second World War, we moved past the psychological trauma, past the millions of lives lost, and past the lasting destruction of humanity to the start of a new life for western society.
The suburbs or the sub-urban area of a city was not truly popularized until the baby boom era. With the joy of victory, much of western society had transformed their view on life from one of survival and struggle, to one of happiness and connivance. With this paradigm shift came a boom of many things. It wasn’t until this period that the value of owning things or consumerism was truly indoctrinated, and with this new demand came a vast influx of electronics, utilities, and accessories such as the fat shaker (I think the world is still trying to forget about that one). With the boom of babies and household items, also came a gigantic influx of homeowners. To own home means to live on an area of land, and when there are millions of families who want homes, that means there are millions of areas of land that are being occupied.
This idea was the topic of my essay which would be the key to a whole new world of understanding the history at my doorstep. In my essay, I equipped the reader with the understanding of the trail of ignorance and environmental dis-connect led by the influx of suburban living and why that is significant today. I explain how the rise of the suburbs relates to early colonialism and the environmental detriment that it left. This topic is one that I felt was under everyone’s noses, but the ignorance influenced by this period of false certainty, has truly left the current society unaware of the crack that we have fallen into.
It took a lot of research and some harsh-but incredibly helpful feedback from a substitute teacher to reach the understanding that I had formed on the topic of the relationship to land in the post-war era. It took curiosity, interest, and hunger to fill my brain with understanding, but after my planning had been completed I knew I would create something to be proud of.
As I mentioned before, I have tried to approach every project this year with a goal of meaningful work, but as I learned in my journey to effectiveness, I can’t create meaningful work unless it is meaningful to me. This value of interest sparked the idea for my research and was the core of my proclaimed success in my work. The current state of environmental and human disconnect doesn’t come from iPhones or even working in a city. This division comes from the systems that society has fallen into over our recorded history. This topic is very broad and it covers ideas from the nature-culture binary and the Anthropocene we are a part of, although for my essay, I covered the impact of that paradigm on the rise of the suburbs and more specifically the rise of the suburbs in the gentle city of North-Vancouver Canada.
Although this topic was truly fascinating to me, it was still difficult to feel good about my my work as I wrote. I struggled to accept my writing because the sensitivity of the topic that I researched. As I’m sure you know, the past is filled to the absolute brim with mistakes and unethical events, but when I decided to write on this subject it was hard to not feel guilty about the past as well as the current place I reside. It is hard to feel as though what I am saying is meaningful or impactful when my life feels so disconnected from the relationship that had been assimilated and so connected to the relationship of assimilation. I think that this is something that I will have to accept as I advance through my education.
Having this topic be one that I truly connected with, made sharing my understanding much more acceptable and meaningful to the audience I share it with. I also feel that even as much as we walk in the footprints of the oppressor, we still need to learn about who bears the shoe and how we could take a separate path. This is the significance of me sharing my ideas. I can feel passionate about something, but in the end, the meaning is what I expressed and shared with the world. My story could have led to a possible revision of an ignorant worldview or even a reminder to remember the true history of where you live and not take advantage of the place you are living in.
This idea of interest relates to my last point of reflection. In this project, I truly realized the importance of being guided by inspiration or desire rather than pressure to achieve or compete. This is something that I have been, and still am working on. A life guided by interest is a life where one can achieve a true understanding of the things that interest them. This is why this project felt like a step forward in my growth as a learner; because I now know that what you care for and what you want to learn more about or improve will give you a much deeper understanding of not only that interest but the ins and outs of life. Make sure you comment any thoughts or questions you have on this post.
Ry…I am so excited to get some insight to your learning process. I hope you continue to nurture that part of you that seeks knowledge and understanding. It is a very rare quality these days. If there is any way I can be of help to you let me know and I would be greatly pleased if you could continue to share your work with us. Love you.
G-pa
Hey Ryder,
Well, I’d say that your blog posts this school year are, indeed, quite meaningful. I think that – time and time again – you really don’t shy away from genuine confrontation with very challenging and profound perspectives, ideas, and contexts – whether they be present-day realities, such as Canadian politics or historical events, such as Komagata Maru.
And, here you are courageously considering no less than humanity’s relationship with the natural world!
There’s an interesting, big-picture conception of societal change that I find insightful, and I think relates to your “At the Core of the Shore” research about North Vancouver and the proliferation of the suburbs…
So, this framing imagines major, historical shifts as being inextricably linked to and influenced by developments, or innovation, in three interacting technologies: new forms of communication, new energy sources, and new modes of transportation.
In connection to the growth of suburbs, this thesis would propose that the invention of telephones along with the discovery and refinement of oil (gas stations) and the mass production of automobiles (along with the construction of roads and highways) all converged and created the economic conditions in society, as well as the feasibility, for people to live outside of city centers, while commuting and communicating over distances.
And, as you correctly wrote, there’s certainly the cultural dimension, too… perceptions and values that can create and maintain a relationship of disconnect with the natural environment…And this point, I think, brings attention to a really important insight that I have been learning recently: our society’s values and beliefs do guide technological innovation and its popular use AND, then, these same technologies can, in turn, feed back and influence and shape a society’s values and beliefs.
In other words, technology and cultural values can evolve in a circular fashion. Thus, technology, in this view, is really not value-free and neutral in and of itself, but, actually contains intrinsic, creative power that can change people’s behavior, perceptions, and values by its very adoption within society.
You wrote about the popularization of consumerism with this direct link to new technologies, i.e., all these new home appliances and electronic gadgets that were sold and provided improved convenience and a sense of security. So, too, these very inventions of modernity must also have begun changing people’s relationship with the environment.
For instance, no longer a need to stand outside in a warm, morning breeze in order to dry clothes on the clothesline, instead, just throw them in the dryer and push a start button. I wonder how social media, search engines, and AI today are changing and creating new perceptions of the natural world and our sense of place within it?
You wrote about how “the current state of environmental and human disconnect… comes from the systems that society has fallen into over our recorded history.” So, I’d like to understand further what you mean by “systems” and “fallen” in this context? Does using the word “fallen” suggest a sort of historical accident and, even, maybe, a hint of inevitability? Or, did/does society have great latitude and power to choose, overall, the directions it takes?
As you considered people’s relationship to their environment throughout your essay, it’s interesting to imagine how current ‘systems’ like virtual reality and video games might be affecting one’s lived experience of interconnection with – or, conversely, disconnection and separateness from – nature and the planet’s biodiversity of life.
If someone is spending time in a virtual reality simulation of ‘whale watching’, for example, can it become less important, and even less meaningful somehow, whether blue whales or orcas are actually swimming in and inhabiting the ‘real’ ocean? What do you think?
I’d like to acknowledge the line you wrote about the challenge of writing about the past when there have been so many “mistakes and unethical events” that constitute the area’s historic memory. And, as you point out, I think that I hear you saying there’s this sort of paradox of both experiencing a sense of disconnection from certain types of relationship with nature (like some practiced by the Coast Salish) that you see as being very valuable and essential while, at the same time, also valuing in some ways, a sense of connection to the very state of affairs (or “assimilation”) that, in part, has resulted from, or, maybe even has been made possible by, the very disconnection! Am I getting this right somewhat?
So, I can really relate to what you expressed here. Let me just say that I think there’s nothing wrong with recognizing, I don’t know, maybe call it one of life’s many contradictions. And, also, I think that it’s admirable that you care about and reflect upon the proper and ideal relationship between human beings and the natural world. It seems to me, so many people don’t even bother (or don’t even know to question?). I think that this is very complex terrain to consider, though, no doubt, rich and important too – a path of understanding and wisdom that I’m still following…
I’ve heard a wise perspective recently, along these lines, that echoes what you expressed in terms of ‘accepting’ this quality of uncertainty and change which so defines our times. It recommends being okay with holding the tension that can exist between opposites and being comfortable and patient with the ongoing interplay between both of them.
And, then, over time, these seemingly incongruent perceptions and values can potentially find a synthesis, blossoming into a new way of making sense and relating to the mystery of life. It’s like the quote that you wrote on another post about the notion of being okay with not having all the answers at the moment…while living the questions.
So, excellent essay! I like what you wrote about “the soul of the shore” and how the Coast Salish peoples respected and coexisted with the land. I’d be interested to hear more about how you perceive this soul of nature?
Maybe you’ve heard of this idea, too, called anima mundi – the ensouled world, and, of course, this ancient notion of the spirits of the land and forest and waters and animals. And, YET, we also strive for rationality, for scientific understanding, for a true sense of individuality and, even, for self-transcendence. To fully experience our connection with nature, to be present with the innate life force of this planet Earth and, still, reaching for the stars, seeking insights into reality and into the nature of who we are.
I think your essay is a very thoughtful reflection on not only North Shore’s history, but, also importantly, on how we humans might better understand and more wisely relate to the natural world. So, well done and thanks for caring.