Often I find myself coming home from school, and being utterly and completely bored, even after an entire bus ride of thought on what I want to do when I finally get there. I put my backpack away, head up to my room, and sit on my bed. And my mind’s seemingly gone blank. So I think and think, but nothing fun seems to come to mind. Minutes pass, and I still haven’t thought of anything. What usually ends up happening is I give up on trying to think of something to do, and I go to check what’s new on YouTube. Or Instagram. Or on a video game that my friends and I play together. Today I found myself in this same predicament, trying to find meaning in what I find myself thinking was pointless. As you might have guessed, it, well, didn’t work out. My mom called me for dinner, and I sat down and ate. My family treats dinner as a time to come together and talk, and even if what we talk about during dinner might sometimes seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things, I later reflected that I had had a better time at dinner than any previous time in between then and when I got off the bus. Back to the story though. When dinner ended and I returned to my room, I decided not to get on my laptop again. Instead I plopped down onto a chair with a sigh and tried to think of why I was so bored. One of the constant subjects of conversation in my family is being happy with what you have, and I felt like I was failing horribly at that. I looked around my room and saw all the amazing things I was surrounded by. To tell the truth, I just felt even more frustrated. And then I felt ashamed for being frustrated. What right did I have to be so ungrateful for all of these things? Still in a bad mood, I rummaged through my closet until I laid my hands upon my box of Magic: the Gathering cards. I pulled it out and looked through them, and they were entertaining for a little while. But I still wasn’t happy. I thought maybe if I had more money I could buy more Magic cards, and then I would be happy. But I had no way to make money. I laid down on the carpet in defeat, boredom and depression washing over me like a wave. In my mind I was despairing; why couldn’t I feel any joy? So I began to think back. I thought back over all the times my parents had told me; happiness does not lie in the possession of things. I thought over all the times in my memory where I was happy and having fun. And I began to notice a pattern. At first it was only a glimmer. But that glimmer grew and grew until it became a sparkle, shining in my head. A realization. As I thought back, I realized that in all the times where I had fun, had joy, there were people surrounding me. At the dinner table, I was with family, with people I trusted and loved and had fun with. Playing Magic the Gathering, I was always with friends, people I trusted and loved and had fun with. Whenever I truly was happy, there were people at my side. Though I have been told many times that happiness lies not in the having of things, but in the hearts and minds of the people around you, I don’t think I have ever realized it with such a depth as I did tonight. So I want to encourage you, whenever you are having a rough day, whenever you’re depressed but still being entertained and you don’t know why you’re not happy, to know that it is probably because in your heart you miss somebody close to you, even if they are just downstairs. Looking back, I realize that all the video games I ever downloaded, all the board games I ever bought, they were all because they were a way to connect with my friends and family. In truth, they are the most important thing in my life, and without them, I couldn’t be happy. I might be entertained by things, but they only bring me joy if I can share the experience with somebody else. I hope that maybe one day I will be feeling bored, and I will remember tonight and remember that, no matter what, my family and my friends will always be what truly brings me joy in life. For they really do.
Alien Serenity
A gust of wind blew, but not a thing seemed to stir. How odd, I thought to myself, shivering as the gale sent spikes of cold into the depths of my body. As if to spite the fact that I wore three sweaters, every swirling movement of the air seemed determined to make me freeze. But where I was made all the discomfort go away. I have traveled to many places, from the towering beauty of the German Alps to the vibrant colors that make up the reefs of Fiji. However, I have found that there is something unique to every place I go, something that makes every trip worthwhile. Often when I think about it, I find the varieties of the Earth we live on stunning. And that is more fact than opinion. The desert was not new to me; I take trips with my family to the high desert of Nevada twice a year. Each year we have a great time, and I have learned that, if you look hard enough, the desert is not such a bland place after all. But the desert I found myself in now was different. Every part of it seemed to scream, “I am not dull in the slightest! And if I have to show that to you by sprouting the weirdest trees you have ever seen, I will!” Yes, I was in Joshua Tree National Park. I had an odd sensation, my brain knowing that I was on Earth, but all of my senses saying I wasn’t, that I was on Mars, with giant rock formations jutting out of the landscape all around me to accompany the trees from another world. The deathly stillness didn’t help my perplexity either. And yet, it was wondrous. It didn’t matter that the none of it seemed to make sense, it just was. There were so many different hues of yellow, green, and brown, all intermingling to form an extraterrestrial landscape. Stacked boulders told tales of the earliest days of existence, the trees a constant chorus of agreement. We spent the day driving to different trailheads in the park, hiking a little ways up them, and climbing boulders until our hands were raw. We walked through valleys, canyons, and washed our dusty faces in a crystal clear pond that sat in a small oasis. It was an experience I will never forget. As the sun began to disappear behind the horizon, I climbed one last boulder, the largest one I could find. Once at the top, I sat down and closed my eyes. The wind whirled around me, blowing my hair over my eyelids, but at that moment, it couldn’t make me cold. I was immersed in the full glory of the Earth, and the only sense I had was one of deep understanding and peace. A feeling of serenity. Later that evening we were sitting by the fireside of the cabin we were staying in. I looked outside the window and found myself gazing upon an endless expanse of stars. Among them was Orion, the full constellation. I thought back on the calm I had felt as I sat on top of the rock, and I thought to myself, How odd. There is something in nature that can only be accessed through a search, a search in which one must ignore the stress of the world and delve deeper into the connection between man and Mother Nature. It is a feeling of peace, of calm, of understanding. It is a feeling of serenity.
My Soccer Game Went Up In Smoke
As many people know, the state of California has burned with some 7,600 fires this year. Many of these were large and leveled entire towns, leaving thousands of people homeless. California’s recent largest recorded fire ever was the Mendocino Fire. The fires have cost about 2.975 billion dollars in rebuilding and fire suppression costs. I live in California. Yesterday morning, I woke up to a blanket of smoke covering the landscape outside my window. Later, when I went outside, I could hardly breathe through the fumes, which made my throat burn. I was supposed to have a soccer game at noon. It was canceled due to the air quality. My school was scheduled to have a volleyball game against a school in Paradise, a town razed by flames just a week ago. That was canceled. I began to wonder why there were so many fires. I didn’t have to look far for the answer. Climate change, or global warming, has become a growing concern for the world these past couple of decades. Severe weather patterns, large fires, flooding, erosion, and droughts are only some of the disasters that are becoming more and more common. The question is, what causes climate change? Global warming is the effect of an imbalance of where carbon is stored on the Earth. When too much of that carbon is put up in the atmosphere, it creates a barrier that prevents heat radiated by the sun from escaping Earth. When this happens, our planet slowly begins to heat up, changing the weather and leading to a great increase of the natural disasters we have been experiencing. An increase that, for example, leaves hundreds of thousands of people homeless within a matter of weeks. However, carbon is not our enemy. In fact, carbon is what makes up every living thing on Earth! The problem is the imbalance. Around 500 million years ago, plants began to creep out of the ocean and onto dry land. There, they started to pull carbon out of the air and turn it into sugar through photosynthesis. This created a shift of carbon into the soil and out of the atmosphere, so Earth became more inhabitable. Soon though, humans came along and figured out how to burn carbon for energy. This began to transfer more and more carbon from the ground back into the air, which started this imbalance that is the root cause of climate change. The plants that once were able to pull enough carbon from the atmosphere can no longer do so to the extent needed. This is because our agricultural system is disrupting the balance. Through photosynthesis, the plants turn the carbon into sugar and pump it into the soil, feeding millions of tiny microorganisms. In turn, the microorganisms make nutrients and minerals more available to the plants, which make the plants healthier. When we put chemicals such as weed killer and pesticides on the plants, it kills those microorganisms. Tilling the soil also disrupts the microorganisms as they work, which makes it harder for them to help the plants flourish. Not only this, but deforestation greatly decreases the amount of plants pulling carbon out of the air. The effect of this system of agriculture is the imbalance of carbon on Earth. And the effect of the imbalance is climate change. In addition to this, the ocean has absorbed a lot of the carbon in the air, which is resulting in a slow acidification of ocean waters. This is greatly accelerating a mass extinction of ocean life. The solution to global warming, therefore, is closer than most of us may realize. In fact, the solution is right under our feet. Literally. In order to reverse climate change, humanity has to strongly reconsider their agricultural system and stop relying so much on carbon or fossil fuels to create energy. In other words, we would start using regenerative practices in agriculture, instead of sustainable practices. If we stopped using chemicals to protect our crops from bugs and weeds, and didn’t till the soil, we would be helping the microorganisms make the plants healthier, as they wouldn’t be disrupted in their work. Another aspect of regenerative agriculture is to plan the regular grazing of cattle. Their dung would apply a constant layer of compost, with more microorganisms in it. Planting trees and crops to cover unplanted areas would greatly increase the amount of plants pulling carbon from the air. The soil would be able to hold a lot more water, preventing major droughts and soaking up much water that might cause a flood. Damp plants and soil also would help prevent the large-scale fires we have been experiencing. All of these regenerative practices combined would make the soil healthier. The healthier the soil, the healthier the plants. The healthier the plants, the more carbon they can pull from the atmosphere to reverse climate change. Not only that, but humans eat the plants, and the healthier the food, the healthier the human! It all contributes to an amazing cycle, returning the balance that will keep the planet healthy. The smoke yesterday morning was still here today. And it will be tomorrow. Climate change, for me, is no longer something I just read about in a book. It is something I am living every day. But the truth is, we can reverse it. The solution is right underneath us. We just have to grasp it and put it into motion. Please comment on what you think. If you would like to learn more about climate change, visit http://www.thesoilstory.com
