Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Changes Needed by Tyesha McCool-Riley

PHS 100A
Warner Pacific College

November 7, 2011

I believe that we are on the right track to better sustaining out natural environment, but we still have a long road ahead of us. A part of me can’t help but to think that what if we don’t make the appropriate changes needed to ensure every living organism’s long term well-being on this planet. Obviously, there is a lot of work that needs to be done to continue planning and strategizing to ensure our existence decades down the line. With that being said during the course of this paper, first I will discuss the changes needed in relation to balance; second, I will explain how my Psychology major is affected by the natural environment ; and third, I will explain how I will use this course to be a steward of the environment.

1. What changes are needed to in relation to balance in our natural environment?

Both human beings and animals are the creation of nature. They depend on nature to get whatever they require for their survival. Nature may exist without us but we cannot survive in the absence of nature. Although we depend upon nature for our very existence, we continue to deplete the nature to quench our never satisfying thirst of pursuit of developments that deteriorate our environment and bring imbalance in nature which will eventually secure our extinction. The imbalance of nature has caused many disasters such as things that we are currently witnessing like, droughts and flooding. Nature purifies itself and renews itself, and us as part of it. For example: We inherit many natural senses that register things like our need of, and attractions to, nature’s purifying cyclic flow. One of those senses includes the water cycle and our natural senses of thirst and excretion. Excretion is a felt attraction to water that we experience and they are fulfilled by its flow in, through and out of us. Water satisfies our sense of thirst; urinations satisfy our sense of excretion making us feel happy, content, relieved, and fulfilled. According to ecpsych.com (2011), “the natural fulfillment of our natural senses attractively conveys to us that we are on the path to survival in balance”. A portion of the human fulfillment satisfaction is that we know our natural sensory fulfillments also nurture and satisfy the functions of the water cycle as well as the needs of the global life community. Our waste nourishes the web-of-life and its flow through us and vice versa based on finds from ecopsych.com (2011).

2. How is my Psychology major affected by the natural environment?

According to Merriam-Webster (2011) psychology is the science of mind and behavior and/or the study of mind and behavior in relation to a particular field of knowledge or activity. There is a field is psychology that is referred to as the Eco-Psychology which the educating, counseling and healing with nature that empowers anyone , at anytime, to increase personal, social and environmental wellness, and help others do the same. Eco-psychology helps individuals find a balance between life and nature; it helps individuals with self-correction, because although we are part of nature, we live excessively indoor lives. Our enormous separation from the natural world interferes with our body, mind and spirit applying the self-correcting way nature works in order to sustain our planet's health, balance and purity, around and in us. Because the indoor process that teaches us how to think and feel is excessively nature-disconnected, its separation from nature's restorative powers creates mind pollution in our psyche. This contamination warps our thoughts and feelings. It causes us to create and suffer personal, social and environmental problems that are seldom found in unadulterated nature or in nature-connected people(s). Also it encourages moment by moment to strengthen our body, mind, and spirit as an internal ecology that helps us enjoy our satisfactions in ways that maintain all of our natural world. Being connected with nature enables patients to be empowered by its beauty, serenity, and sacrifices that it makes that we as humans need to exist. Many people use nature as a way to escape and to relax, some people choose from a variety of outdoor recreational activities to participate in such as sports, hunting, fishing, camping, picnics, jogging, and even careers like crabbing, landscaping. Although, we may not acknowledge the influence of nature and how it affects our moods and the way our brains process certain feelings, it plays a significant role. Studies have found that small things such as office workers with a view of nature – trees, bushes or even a large lawn – experienced significantly less frustration and more enthusiasm for their jobs than those workers without windows. Natural mental healing is a great contribution to our society to promote being environmentally responsible versus constantly prescribing harmful medications.

3. How will I use this course to be a steward of the environment?

The most important factors to me are education and awareness. During the past five weeks I have gained knowledge of things that I have heard of but, wasn’t knowledgeable about such as the scientific method, renewable and non renewable energy, conservation and preservation, and natural resources. Initially when I reviewed the syllabus I was skeptical as to what to expect and what I would gain from the course. Contrary to my misconception of the courses intentions I am grateful to have received information that I have used to evaluate and analyze my personal behaviors in my daily life that can be modified so that I am a better steward of my environment and its sustainability. I have also made it my personal mission to relay this information to my children, family, and friends so that they are all aware and can begin to take part in saving our planet as a whole.

Although, I have began to make changes in my life to make less negative impact on our natural environment, I believe that to be successful at living a pre environmentally sustainable life, a lifestyle change has to take place. In making a lifestyle change like this you have to educate continuously, regulate, enforce regulations, preserve our natural environment and protect it from alterations, conserve, and be aware of what is going on around us. We must also take action through voting, writing letters to city council and protesting if necessary, be ethical, be responsible for your actions, and think long term with regards to our future and how our actions today will affect down the road. Ultimately, making better decisions makes for a better and more positive outcome that could improve our quality of life.

References

Retrieved November 3, 2011from, http://generalpaper.freevar.com/my_essays/balance_of_nature.html

Retrieved November 5, 2011 from, http://www.ecopsych.com/

Retrieved November 7, 2011 from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/psychology?show=0&t=1320736851

Retrieved November7, 2011 from Withgott, J., & Bennan, S. (2011). Environment: the science behind the stories (4th ed.). New York, NY. Pearson Benjamin Cummings. ISBN-13:9780321715340 (Package including access to the Mastering Environmental Science website.)

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