The Mom Post

Last night, in a kitchen overflowing with 10 friends, 2 sizzling pans of oil and 3 lbs of veggies (soon to be stirfry) my old roommate Erika made an announcement.
"Emerald is writing a blog, and you should read it! Because... it is good!"
If you ever need any PR work done, I'm pretty sure she is your girl.
Inevitably, someone posed the question. "So, what is the blog for?"
I shrugged, thought about it for a couple seconds, and answered (semi-sarcastically), "It's for my mom. Facebook stalking isn't quite enough... she wants to know what I am learning too".

At the time I was joking, but as I sped down 1-90 en route to Moscow (my hometown) this afternoon, I started pondering it more. My mother, for reference, happens to be an extraordinary woman. She is sweet, spunky, intelligent, kind, and has the muscled body of a twenty five year old. She is one of the strongest (physically and mentally) women I know, but she is also only human.  I like having a mother with her own set of flaws, however, because it demotes her from "superherowhocanfixeverythingplease...NOW!" to my friend, someone I can relate, laugh, cry, problem solve and fight with.

In class we have been talking about our ecological identities, or how we construe ourselves to the natural world and where these values come from. A huge amount of my environmental ethic comes from my parents. One part is from my dad and his unrelenting pursuit and love of being outside (he is, hands down, my best rafting, skiing, and hiking partner).

However, my mother has taught me a lesson equally important: how to be passionate about a career. My mother works as a physical therapist with children with disabilities. It is a stressful, exhausting, relatively low-paid job. Yet when she talks about helping a child learn to walk, or problem solving with a school to put in a handicap entrance, or rearranging an insurance form (this is when I generally start zoning out...) she has an undeniable spark in her voice and face. She is genuinely excited about what she is doing. And it only takes talking to a parent of a child she has worked with to see that she is making a small but beautiful difference in the world.

A huge part of my ecological identity and motivation is an underlying feeling that my lifework should effect some sort of positive change for the world. I am just one person, and I know I wont be able to reverse the damage already done to our planet, slow down global warming, or convince the world's leaders to set aside their greed and work towards sustainable economies. However, my mother has taught me what that spark of passion looks like, and it makes me determined as hell to give this "saving the world" thing a try.

This blog, as a whole, is dedicated to her.