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recent
The presentations are finished. Other people are still working hard on their final thesis paper. My group is all but finished, so I am spending the next few days thinking about what the future holds.... something I have neglected to do this year.
In some respects, I feel that perhaps I missed out on something this year, spending too much time being overly introspective (I know I wrote about it before, but I was thinking about it again these past few days). I didn't get much "practical" knowledge or experience as some others may have. I just keep coming back to the idea that unless I really spend time on the theoretical/philosophical side of "sustainability" I would be missing something when I try to put things into practice.
After listening to a classmate's presentation about sustainability and educational institutes in which she raised some ideas about the philosophy of sustainability, I have been wondering what the course we took this year would have looked like had they decoupled the philosophy and the science, talking to it in separate courses. One course could be all about the science, and one that about the concept of sustainability itself... one that asks the "big" questions.
As it was presented to us this year, the science was stressed, and the philosophy was there, but not explicitly discussed. It was implied, and felt a little hidden, but seemed as if they were afraid to speak openly about it. One could argue, I suppose, that being part of the engineering department, they should not be teaching philosophy, but I don't think that it can really be strictly about the science, since that science is based on a philosophical belief, deeply held by most of us, but maybe not questioned or understood as such. It is as if we are just to "accept" it.
But anyway, now my year of philosophizing and wasting time has come to an end. This next year is to be focused on getting practical experience. The main focus is no longer "what is sustainability?", or "is is possible?", but rather how can this framework for building strategies to move toward a more sustainable world be implemented?
I have a lot of ideas swimming around in my head. None of them appear particularly profitable (at least not in the short term). I calm my anxiety and justify it by telling myself that this next year will be the unofficial "year two" of my one-year masters program -only cheaper. I have the cash reserves that I don't have to worry about immediate income, so the goal is to focus on gaining experience and insight into how these ideas can be operationalized. Of course I will have to eventually find a way to make it pay, but that as well can be part of the learning process. Basically, I have one year to see what I can make happen.
Or am I just being lazy... finding excuses to avoid finding a "real" job?
The photos are some more of my "I think I have taken better people/portrait shots this past few weeks than ever before" collection.
Well... these below one may not be one of my "best" shots, but it captures Jess (the DJ) well. And, of course, I did not take that shot of me "spinnin". Betcha no one knew about that side of me huh?
recent galleries
