A drop of water blood BPSDB
Mother
Are you crying?
Forgive us our sins
For we know not what we have done
Forgive me
So I can give the last drop to my brother
Horizontal
Because he is your son
And I am not your daughter.
Maybe I forgot
Your daughters feed the world.
They say I am
Mother, how did it happen
Your wounds?
Martha, participant
CJF Solidarity Rolling Fast
The Climate Justice Fast enters it’s 6th Day. Here is the news from Canberra
Don’t forget these links
- Climate Justice Fast:
- Youtube Channel: including video diaries of Paul’s practice fast
- Facebook CJF Page:
- Facebook CJF Support:
- Activists plan hunger strikes for climate justice
I am thrilled to welcome Gail to our CJF Solidarity Rolling Fast. Among many other things Gail is a climate witness documenting the (declining) health of trees. Here is an excerpt from her WWF Climate Witness Profiles:
Until the summer of 2008, I was one of those lucky, oblivious people who believed that though climate change was going to occur, it meant a gradual, linear warming, and that the worst effects would occur far in the future, at some distant, exotic place, losing biodiversity, like maybe in Madagascar.
I expected my paradise to remain a protected niche, where a spring-fed creek provided clean cold water, excellent soil had accumulated, and I was no where near the shore where wild storms and rising seas could disturb the inhabitants of the village where I have been so fortunate to live.
Not in my home, in New Jersey!
In fact though, from my journey to learn what is happening to trees, I have read enough to know that the terrible results of burning greenhouse gases are going to bring about change that is abrupt, violent, and sooner rather than later – just what is already happening in my own back yard, now. read on
Gail is also the voice of Wit’s End, a blog with some interesting posts and absolutely awesome photography, check it out.
As part of our CJF Solidarity Rolling Fast Laura began fasting last night as Stewart (S2) finished his shift. Here’s Stewart’s meditations on the experience.
Day 1:
Up at 0700 UT (earlier than usual for a Sunday).
Immediately I was hungry. This was a surprise, as I skip breakfast a couple of times a week on average. I think this could be analogous to a smoker suddenly discovering that he or she has run out of tobacco – there is an immediate and intensified urge for a smoke. Does deprivation enhance desire? Am I addicted to food?
By about when lunchtime would have been I’d settled down a bit. In fact I had quite a productive morning. Food had come to mind far more often than I would have suspected (especially when cleaning the kitchen). I thought about cheating more than once, but resisted the temptation.
The afternoon was also productive (I spent most of it doing physics). I did notice the cold – but then the autumn (aka fall) has so far been very mild and wet here, but the last couple of days have been cold and dry. I put on an extra jumper, and when that didn’t help I put the fire on.
By 1900 UT I was no longer feeling hungry. It was just the occasional rumble from my stomach that reminded me that I hadn’t eaten (the rumble didn’t go away until the afternoon of day 3). However I was beginning to feel pretty tired. I ended up going to bed perhaps an hour or so earlier than usual.
Day 2:
Woke 2 hours too early. Never mind, it was an excuse to get another couple of odd jobs done and out of the way before leaving for work. I felt really good on my way in, we had had the first heavy frost of the autumn and every twig and blade of grass had it’s own overcoat of frost, the sky was brilliantly clear and the Sun was low in the East – magic. It felt great just to be alive.
The good feeling lasted until lunchtime, when people around me started eating – so I went for a walk. The worst bit was passing between a Fish & Chip shop and an Indian Curry House, but I carried on down for a walk around the park and to say hello to the family of swans there.
By mid-afternoon I was flagging a bit and my head was starting to ache. By the end of the day I was feeing tired, but again going for a walk helped.
After getting home and changing, I began to feel tired again. I thought about staying up until midnight but gave up on the idea and went to bed early again.
Morning 3:
Woke at 2 a.m. – 4 hours early. What’s going on here? Does the body clock get confused when there’s no food coming in? I seemed to have switched to a 22 hour day. I put a wash on, had a black coffee and went back to bed just to keep warm, I didn’t feel sleepy – but immediately fell asleep for another three hours. On reawakening I felt remarkably good – but this may have simply been because the end was in sight. I got washed, dressed and (finally) had some breakfast. I actually had a surprising craving for yoghurt (which I rarely eat, so there was none in the house) – but I settled for dried cherries and figs.
Tentative observations:
Hunger may be a transient thing. It is your body’s way of telling you that you need to eat, but it may not keep repeating the message if you’re not listening (or unable to respond). I was clearly hungry for the fist half of day 1, after that I was sort of conscious of it but it only became bad when others around me were eating or when I could smell food being prepared.
Food deprivation doesn’t stop you thinking (at least on short timescales). It may even
enhance it. I felt pretty sharp on the physics on Day 1 and for at least the morning on Day 2. A possible corollary – being mentally active may suppress hunger.
I was surprised at how cold I felt, since I don’t usually notice the cold until my fingers go white. I guess it’s a metabolism thing, but I don’t really know.
All in all, the anticipation was worse than the experience.
But I have to say that after having tried it on a small scale myself, I’m even more in awe of the people who are fasting seriously. I took a stroll along the beach, they are serial marathon runners.
Would I try it again?
Yes, I think I probably will. I think I have more respect for food (and what it means to people) than I did before, but that is based on just two days of my life and (at the moment) I would like to explore this a bit further.
I might progress from casual stroller to casual jogger, but I know that I’ll never make serial marathon grade.
Stewart
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We still have room for more people to participate if you would like to to be part of a solidarity fast, or start your own group. There is still 37 days to go, so there is lots of time to organize a group, particularly for during Copenhagen itself.
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“Since 1982, spring in East Asia (defined here as the eastern third of China and the Korean Peninsula) has been warming at a rate of one degree Fahrenheit per decade.” Earth Gauge
We give our consent every moment that we do not resist.
IMAGE CREDITS:
Ripples in the pond of dreams by Thorsten Becker
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