A Personal Reflection of Connectivity & Sustainability
Curated & Created by Michael X. Yue
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11.04.2018
OVERVIEW
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In this picture-based narrative, personal reflections of sustainability in everyday life will be explored from an anecdotal and poetic lens. The series of photographs taken by Michael X. Yue in Prince Rupert, BC which captures moments of self-reflection, personal growth, and empowerment of environmental connectivity between nature and nurture.
RESILIENCy
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We are afraid of the future, the notion of uncertainty
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A world which is structured, an obstacle of rigidity
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Yet we are here, breathing and and full of vigour
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We are the change in our endeavours
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So let a world of black and white, to be a place - revitalized
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A place of home, a space of care, a nature of we with no despair
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So we can be at peace with the whispers in the air
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A fluid mosaic of harmony with life and care
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Photograph Description: An emerging plant growing from the cracks of shale along an ocean shore.
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GRowth MindSEt
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Mr. Birch, can you sense me?
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The CO2 of my presence?
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Yet, you seem faded, obstructed from evanescence
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Walking past with haste and delusion
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Things to do, places to go, no time to stop for faint elusions
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Yet, you are here, with vigour and reflection
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So I stop and stare, breathing deepling in your air
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With soothing silhouettes from your leaves fluttering up there
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A smile is produced and a mind is refreshed
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I am lucky to connect with a smile which not needs to be there
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Photograph Description: A smiling birch tree located outside of my apartment
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DISCOVERY
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I am dynamic - moving and changing in every moment
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To seek for the uncharted, fills one with enjoyment
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I wander, I drift, I reflect in a place of unknowns
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Enquiring and listening to the naturally bestowed
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An elixir of wonder and self-discovery
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A dimension of conservation and integrity
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With innocence and harmony, and resilience and prosperity
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They wander with a man of wisdom and curiosity
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Learning about their interconnected similarities
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Video Description: A harbour seal diving below the surface of the water
Initiation
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Wind in my hair, silhouettes in my ear
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Adrenaline from my kidneys, and a beautiful sight as I stare
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Dreaming green is not an impossible dare
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Envigored and full of life, far from stray
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Cycle, pedal, kilometers away
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To a place of fulfillment and to a place of peace, a type of gateway
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Siting along the shale, where the waves intermits
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With the splash of resilience and life on my bare skin, seamingly so lit
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Rejuvenating my soul, a parsimony of ensnare
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Experiences like these, I don't need to be a millionaire
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Photograph Description: A picture of my electric bike during a cycling trip to Port Edward
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EDUCATion
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Knowledge, a powerful tool
Stronger than a physical weapon, learned beyond a school
Where wisdom emerges and captivate the scene
To pass information of legends and facts
A continual cycle of reflection and impact
When one realizes the power of their mind
Change is inevitable, a match which cannot be confined
Learning and sharing the miraculous world of life
And as one pontificate, several supports the high
A life of harmony between people and trees
We shall rejoice in memory for thoughtful expertise
Where we will continue to holistically be free with thee
A prophecy is not needed to protect santicity
As if we do not, we will drive all things beautiful into insanity
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Photograph Description: Traditional, aboriginal artifacts associated with Tsimshian culture from the Pacific Northwest Coast, displayed in the Museum of Northern British Columbia
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Innovation
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Biomimicry, decomposition
Sustainability and innovation
Nature's lens of healing and resiliency
A biological story of self-prevailing sufficiency
A tale of circular immortality
A narrative of sanctity and preservation
For behold, a life of many dimensions
Our goal shall be devine conservation
For us, be not told, she continues to whisper every second
At moments, even echoing from any distance
We are the people of all manipulation
A cry for good, a cry for bad
We are the prophecy, uncharted
Nomads in a legacy of discarded
An agent of change, if we really want it
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Photograph Description: A herbarium cyanotype of Purple Loosestrife and Red Osier Dogwood.
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Curation Debrief
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I hope that you enjoyed the personal curation; it may have inspired, awoken, or changed your perspective on sustainability from a personal, social , and environmental (PSE) view. The objective of this curation collection was to resonate the interconnectedness of humans to our PSE responsibilities. By using a personal, poem-based narrative, hopefully it was an inspirational and captivating self-reflection of the significance of sustainability. The story evolutionarily progressed through six main phases of environmental leadership and self-reflection: (1) Resiliency, (2) Growth Mindset, (3) Discovery, (4) Initiation, (5) Education, and (6) Innovation. These stages scaffolded the importance of holistic and transformative practices essential to be agent of sustainable change in society. This curation portrayed an anecdotal narrative of local artifacts in Prince Rupert, BC, which was inspired from Mulligan's (2018) textbook publication: An Introduction Into Sustainability.
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Photograph Description: A bridge found within Rushbrook Trail.
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Curation Connections to Mulligan (2018)
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BIG IDEAS
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Social Ecology Model of Sustainability
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Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
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Herman Daly’s Sustainability Principles
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RMIT Sustainability Principles
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ESD Principles
SUSTAINABILITY CONCEPTS
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Personal, Social, and Environmental (PSE) Responsibility
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Conservation, Preservation, and Sustainability
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Ethical Morality
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Accumulating Impacts
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Anthropogenic Effects
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Ecological Thinking
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Personal Lifestyle Adaptations
Cycling
Recycling
Composting
Innovating
Gardening
Walking
Upcycing
Reusing
Photography Credit
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Michael X. Yue. (2018). Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported.
CITATION
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Mulligan, M. (2018) An Introduction to Sustainability: Environmental, Social and Personal Perspectives. 2nd Edition. New York: Routledge.
digital signature
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Yue, M. X. (2018). A Personal Reflection on Connectivity & Sustainability. TeacherMrYue. Retrieved from https://teachermryue.wixsite.com/mysite/sustainable-connections.