Knowledge

Yes, knowledge is power. 

But knowledge also comes with responsibility. 

A responsibility to act with the knowledge that you have gained. 

And that could come with a range of emotions from excitement, feeling inspired or also stress, anxiety or helplessness. 

I feel so torn between feeling inspired and helpless with regards to the knowledge I have gained throughout university about humans and the environment. I feel inspired because I have just learnt so much about the environment, new concepts of analysis on environmental issues and have had so many meaningful conversations with friends environmental issues that we face today and particularly revolving around human's interaction with the environment. At the same time, I feel so helpless because I also learnt that my efforts in making a positive change on the environment or rather reducing my environmental impact, is futile. Whilst here I am being a vegan, someone elsewhere in the world could be consuming twice as much meat as a regular person. Or my diet may not even be that sustainable because the foods that vegans eat can be quite resource intensive as well. Whilst here I am trying my best to live a minimal-waste lifestyle, so many people are just not making a great enough effort when it comes to reducing their plastic waste let alone waste as a whole. 

Being objective is extremely important, we always need to see both sides of the story before making a clear decision on which side to be on. However, I now understand why people sometimes say that ignorance is bliss. 

After reading the book Sapiens (which I highly recommend everyone read), I had an epiphany that humans literally made up our entire way of life. Nations, borders, governments, the education system, careers, corporations and money being the biggest one of them all, are all fictitious. We have made them all up and to think that we are so deeply embedded in this fictitious reality that there is no backing out (well unless there was a revolution, which I don't think would be successful any time soon). At the same time, we can't dwell over this and be depressed over what the hell we are doing with our lives as slaves to this system because this is the only way we know how to live and has been for years. What we can do, is make the most out of it and live the best life we know. 

Ending with that, I shall make an effort to continuously remind myself not to feel too down when I feel like I'm not making a big enough impact when it comes to doing environmental good because every small effort is still a positive effort and it will amount to the greater good. I am also incredibly grateful for the few friends who understand and share my pain when it comes to trying to live a sustainable lifestyle around people who do not live in the same way or do not even see eye to eye with these issues. You can never tell people how they should or should not live. It has to come from within themselves for their efforts to be long-lasting and sustainable. 

Sighhhhhhhhhh

ok that's enough feeling sad over this issue!! Bye!!