Literate or Illiterate?

I would like to think that most likely I am a mix of both.

My family is made up of some pretty environmentally literate people and I feel like this has been a part of my life. My grandfather was a naturalist. We used to go on walks in the woods and never get farther than 50 feet in an hour because he knew so much. Although, he primarily taught me about the physical environment. Some of this I retained, but not much. From him, I learned to be questioning about the environment and look around my surroundings for things that could be hiding.

My mother and father were also very active in the environment and many political movements throughout my life. My mother had taken macrobiotic cooking classes long before I was born and truly believed in this diet...that is until she had 3 children and a full time job. My dad has always been interested in the environment and the history of the land. He has tried to get to me remember bird calls for as long as I can remember. He has also engaged me in many conversations about global warming, overpopulation, water quality, the use of coal, and the importance of maintaining a garden close to home along with certain survival skills. My parents have also made sure that I thought politically about what has been done to the land in many ways and the reasons behind it.

I would also say that my church helped me as a child. I still remember a service where the "children's time" was all about water. I was most likely 6 or 7, but I will never forget being asked to put a jug of water on my head and trying to walk. I was then told that this is what so many people in other parts of the world have to do multiple times a day and all I have to do is turn on the tap. I think this has especially stayed with me throughout my life and made me want to learn more.

This knowledge was basically given to me by my family. The knowledge that I began searching for on my own came later in my college career when I met my mentor and took my first geography course. My eyes were opened to many different issues, not only with the physical environment but also in the way that humans interact with the natural world. It was here that I really learned about all sorts of environmental issues that are taking place globally and the thoughts that many different people have about them.

I will say that what has made me illiterate is fear. Fear to be totally different than the majority. I feel as though I may have been much more active in educating myself and taking part in the environment if I would not have felt so alone in doing so. I think most of this is about the place that you are at and how conducive that place is to learning and growing. I believe that there is potential in myself as well as many others, but it just takes finding the right place and the right people to help it flourish.

I also think that I am so young that there is no way that I could be totally literate about any subject, especially something as vast as the environment. I hope that with age my literate side will grow and my illiterate side with fade away, but I don't think I can ever be totally literate about any one subject as large as the environment.