My family celebrating my graduation.

Today I was going to give a short, step by step on how to make pumpkin soup from the pumpkin that may be sitting on your doorstep as a prop for your Fall Entrance decor but after going through my email this morning it seems so insignificant.  Nevertheless I will share the process with you at some point because nothing is insignificant really, and I know there will be many who will find meaning and purpose in learning to use a real pumpkin,as opposed to composting it and buying a can of pumpkin to make soup but I must digress for today.

Behind me all the way

As you have heard me say before, I believe all things are connected and it was the awareness of some vast disconnections in this world that brought me to my studies in ecoliteracy.  I believed that my strongest passion was in the area of food and in particular our disconnection to our food.  I used that premise to create a project of research for myself in education  with food security and sustainability as the over arching theme. Along the way I came across the idea of ecoliteracy and was taken with a paradigm that could accommodate and promote my ideas about food as well as my love of nature and people.  So, although I acknowledge that using a real pumpkin is a valuable piece of connecting people to their food, I would like to leave that idea for today and share something else with you.

The reason I question my stories and ramblings today is because through my blog I am making connections with some other blogs that are truly amazing.  The authors of these blogs are writing significant, relevant stories about ecology in connection with literature, spirituality, trees and more.  When I was researching my Master’s project I did not unearth these authors but through the connections created through blogging and social media new and exciting people are coming into my blog atmosphere everyday.  These people are not your typical placard holding, tree hugging environmentalists. They are the next generation of ecoliterate writers and activists who are using art, literature, film, spirituality, legends and their stories to reveal the relevance and urgency of mankind’s need to recognize, that without connections, we will not survive.

Without going into much detail I would  like to share two sites that I have connected to that will provide you with some interesting readings and perspectives about ecoliteracy.  I am sure I will use these sights as references in the future and am looking forward to learning from these bloggers.

For those of you who are connected with a faith group you may really enjoy the perspective on Momentary Delight. This is a blog  written by Darren Beem, who introduces his blog as an attempt to “engage in a conversation about life, be real and ask questions (Darren Beem, Momentary Delight, WordPress) .One of the things I really enjoy reading about on this blog are the connections between nature and faith. I have not delved too deeply into this site yet but I can relate to many of  the topics Darren writes about.  Like Darren, I too am puzzled by faith-based followers’ disconnections sometimes.  For instance, it is alarming to find that many faith-based people very rarely mention the significance of a relationship with nature or an awareness of environmental issues.  In my experience, they more often disregard the messages of others when it comes to being socially responsible in terms of caring for the earth, honouring diversity in nature and humans or taking responsibility for their actions which destroy rather than nurture connections to the earth and other humans.  Darren poses some pressing questions and discusses his perspective on these issues  and more while  relating to biblical and holy texts at times.

The second blog I am really excited about is Ekostories.  This is a site of essays that connects  narratives to nature, culture and self.  I particularly enjoyed the essay discussing the major themes in the movie Cloud Atlas, as it is a movie that my partner purchased because I really wanted to see it but have yet taken the time to watch.  This movie received acclaim as well as fierce criticism and Isaac, the author of Eckostories, methodically extracts the major themes of the movie and discusses them in relation to the major focus of his blog; change, connection and the power of a story. This site is a plethora of information and material that could easily be incorporated into ecoliteracy education.  There is something for everyone, from analysis of children’s stories, art, film, personal experience and fiction all the way to video games, documentaries and even comics.  I have only scratched the surface of exploring this site and look forward to reading many more of Isaac’s posts to further my education in ecoliteracy.  I am also going to check out some of the many sites that he recommends.

That being said, time is slipping away on me and I am still engrossed in the task of writing my blog post.  I think this is part of the wonder of writing a blog.  I don’t just write my reflections and personal experience down and then walk away from the computer.  When I sit down to post I usually have a vague idea of what I will write about but often, as I try to  support and  find relevant information for what I am writing,  I stumble into so much more.  Initially, I thought my blog would be focussed on food and recipes but as I move along this journey I am discovering that I am just as passionate about ecoliteracy and education as I am about food.  Blogging is  providing me with  space to explore and learn about my interests and connections to a vast array of topics as well as  an opportunity to develop a practice of writing.

In her book, The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life, Twyla Tharp, dedicates a chapter to the importance of observing your world and getting it down on paper.  I suppose for me this blog is developing that habit in me.  So today I am happy to have shared what I observed in the virtual world of blogsphere and pleased that although the connections I have found with these two authors and their work are not physical they are nonetheless meaningful and real in their ability to cause me to broaden my perspectives and connections in various realms of my life.