Stream of Consciousness
How cool - with just a computer on my lap (and of course all of the intricate wires and connections floating around the world) I can share and express my thoughts?!
Cozied near the heat stove, there is no better place to sit and contemplate the exponential nature of simple actions. I have a goal to publish one Stream of Consciousness per week. The idea of this project is to work within my preferred writing style - which is to write freely and without too much judgement or hesitation. Fair warning - these will not read like polished thesis-based articles! There will be tangents!
Typically, my writings are in poetic form, but there is something kind and personable about a longer format. It’s as if I’m having a long monologue of a conversation with whoever is reading. So, hello reader! It is a pleasure to meet, to share ideas, and to perhaps prompt a response.
The topics that I will cover within this project will mostly revolve around my professional interests in natural health. It’s maybe even possible that this project will help me decide which language I most prefer when speaking on the subject! Anyone who has spent some years studying the field surely knows the overwhelming amount of jargon used to describe medicine that falls outside of the “conventional” model, each with their own stereotypes: complementary, alternative, integrative, holistic, unconventional, eastern - just to name a few.
It’s a struggle to find terms that do not feel over or misused. The best solution I can think is to urge the reader to refer to the root definition of the term, because I do tend to be literal in my use of health terminology. It is the easiest way! Of course, language evolves with culture. And there is a huge issue of greenwashing that occurs in our society - legitimate terms become stolen with the intention of selling (think sugared cereal boxes with the heart healthy stamp).
Anyhow! My intention is not to be too controversial. But, I do have nuanced perspectives and a drive to share them in order to promote beneficial change for those around me, including myself! Health is a practice, a set of skills. We are not always taught these skills, not to mention it requires a constant state of learning as we listen to our own personal and environmental cues.
I consider myself lucky for falling into the path of studying holistic health. The Merriam-Webster definition for holistic is “relating to or concerned with wholes or with complete systems rather than with the analysis of, treatment of, or dissection into parts.” Pretty much - everything is connected, in a systemic way, from the earth to humans to tiny bitty cells.
It is very fascinating! And confusing! And beautiful.
Learning about the world through this lens has truly created a perspective shift for me. I empathize with folks who feel differently than I do - who spray poisons on plants or prioritize profits over people - because I am hopeful that they just haven’t been exposed to the information in a way that makes sense to them. I am hopeful that they are just following the norm and that the norm can shift.
Perhaps me sharing my Stream of Consciousness will spark a kind change. Perhaps some forests will be spared, some rivers clean flowing. Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps.
