Mural by Smashed Label at the Wilmington Green Box on Market Street in Wilmington, Delaware
I believe that all of live comes down to intention. The power of anything lies in the purpose for doing it. That is true with all practices, including research practice. In this post, I explain a little bit about the purpose of this project from an intellectual perspective. Of course, there are always underlying and overlying intentions. I have discussed some of those already and the others will continue to emerge as the project evolves and grows.
The purpose of this study is to explore how people I interview engage in Earth-based food, medicine, and spiritual practices in their everyday lives and why. Ultimately, I hope this exploration will help shape a narrative of Earth-based practice based on the experiences people have in their everyday lives. I hope this approach can offer an emerging narrative of environmentalism and environmental practice that is based in people’s relationships with their bodies, the planet, and the philosophies, theories, and systems of devotion that help them to maintain right relationship with themselves, other people, and the planet.
In preparation for this project, I have created and continue to develop a “literature review”. This is what it sounds like—a review of how other people have defined the words I’m using and a review of other studies similar to this one. Over the course of this project, I will share an ongoing list of the resources from which I’m drawing. Eventually, I hope to offer classes and discussion groups while I'm on the road for those interested in exploring these resources, learning more about these topics, and discussing them with others. So stay tuned …
This week, I will tap into my literature review to offer some broad definitions of the following terms as they have been used by others:
Food practices
Medicine practices
Spiritual practices
Environmentalism
Environmental practice
Right relationship
As always, thank you for reading and for walking with me on this very exciting journey.