Great Blue Heron

Lake Conroe

After meditating and listening to the sounds four times, I finally got the same power animal twice. Thus, I decided that it was a sign that I did find my totem animal. My fascination with flying and swimming has always characterized my daydreams, and when playing the game “would you rather” I could never decide whether I would want to be a bird or a fish. In this case, it is a way to sort of beat the system. I grew up seeing the Great blue herons in lake Conroe. My grandparents had a house on the lake and we used to wake up early to watch them hunt. When I think of them it warms my heart with childhood memories. After doing further research on the Great Blue Heron, I realized that it suits me even better than I had originally thought!

The Great Blue Heron has the best of both worlds, the sky and the sea. They can explore depths as well as heights. They are great opportunists, feeding on a wide range of small mammals, amphibians, and reptiles when possible, but their normal diet consists of small fish. Individuals usually forage while standing in water, but will also feed in fields or drop from the air, or a perch, into water. As large wading birds, Great Blue Herons are able to feed in deeper waters, and thus are able to harvest from niche areas not open to most other heron species. They have a great sense of site fidelity as they are inclined to renest in the same area year after year. They also upgrade and reuse old nests, constantly bettering their environment. 

"Animal totems, like the tiger, come from the Other Side
to protect us while we are away from Home"-Sylvia Browne

I feel that animal and human spirits intertwine as we are all earthlings. Maybe we were an animal in our past life or maybe we might be in the future. "Power animals, rather than being associated with a family or a group, are specific and personal for each individual (Farmer, 397)." I feel like I have a special affinity to the Great Blue Heron, as I feel connected to birds. I don't really know what it is that I find so fascinating, maybe something about the way they glide, maybe something about their freedom. The Heron is to me as the Tower is to Bill Moyers, they both act as constants, never changing in an ever-changing world. "And for [Moyers] to return from the atmosphere of a vagrant sojourner, which is what journalism is, you go from place to place, restless, homeless, this is the earth to which [he] always returns." 

Black Elk Speaks

"Sometimes dreams are wiser than waking". 

Black Elk 

Before reading this, I had not heard about the story of Black Elk, or very much about Native Americans in general. My basic understanding was that the white people came and bullied the Natives, taking advantage of their generosity and kindness. In school, rarely are we presented with stories from the other point of view. We have been taught at a young age that Columbus was a great man and extraordinary explorer, but the details of how he actually treated the Native Americans remains purposely shadowed.

Black Elk’s story consists of three parts: part autobiography, part spiritual revelation, and part tribal history. He emphasizes that his own life story is also the story of his tribe indicating the communal nature of the Native American experience.  Black Elk thinks of himself almost entirely in the context of his tribe or band, and he embodies the values of his people. Seeing himself as an instrument of a higher power, Black Elk emphasizes that the power of the vision manifested itself through him since, "no good thing can be done by any man alone (Neihardt, 359)."Black Elk's narrative continues to recount the increasing dislocation of the Sioux as the U.S. Government annexed more and more Indian territory and established Indian agencies and reservations. At the same time, Black Elk's vision perplexes him because circumstances do not seem to allow him to fulfill it.

Peace Pipe (one of the gifts from the 6 grandfathers)

Black Elk views the world's interconnectedness as natural and obvious. He doesn't put anything on a pedestal over other things simply because of species. "Is not the sky a father and the earth a mother, and are not all living things with feet or wings or roots their children (Reinhardt, 359)?" To him, one earthling's life is just as crucial as another's. He shares his vision with his fellow earthlings, taking it upon himself to embrace the power put upon him. "From them you shall have power...from them who have awakened all the beings of the earth with roots and legs and wings (Reinhard, 364)." Black Elk was given a cup of water to make live the greening day, a bow and arrow to destroy, a sacred peace pipe, and a sacred stick, and the nation's hoop.

Totem Animals

His relationship to Homo-Sapiens, bison, horses, and birds are all very important and varied. He seems closest spiritually to horses, bison, and geese, but the eagle eventually resonates the most. The spotted eagle became his totem animal, renaming him "Eagle Wing Stretches (Reinhardt, 363)." Historically, Native Americans are nomadic, following the herds of bison to survive. Thus, bison is crucial for their lifestyle, in terms of food, clothing, and symbolically as well. "I know now what this meant, that the bison were the gift of a good spirit and were our strength, but we should lose them, and from the same good spirit we must find another strength (Reinhardt, 386)."

I can't wait to meditate to find my totem animal! I took some random online quizzes... I doubt their accuracy.

Using animals unethically... MEAN

Utilizing animals for research as insight into human behaviors is debatably helpful and unquestionably unethical. But as every great scientist discovered, “the road to benefits is often paved with harms (Gluck, 78).” Testing animals for harmful potential side effects on humans is silly because their body composition reacts differently than humans do. Ethically, “animals matter because their pain matters (Gluck, 79).” Many people chose to turn a blind eye to such research endeavors because as I have stressed in previous blogs, it is easier for people to plead ignorance than to actually feel something. This way, society can take comfort in continuing on with their lives worry free of the oppressed.

Honestly, I can understand why some people react in this way. For example, many cosmetic brands test their products on a variety of animals before exposing them to human specimen. It is easier for us to sacrifice lab rats than actual human beings, but why? Why does this societal constructed hierarchy appeasing our innate ethical concerns? Why do “humans view themselves as the elite species on the planet (Titus, 132)?” Animals have a life, they can feel, and thus they deserve similar consideration and sympathies as we share with other human beings. On the other hand, we also use humans deemed less valuable as research lab rats too. The Nazis used the Jews. The slave owners used the slaves. The powerful consistently take advantage of their power position to put others in harms way before subjecting oneself to such dangers. 

Personality test result

Your Type is ENFJ
Extraverted	Intuitive	Feeling	Judging
Strength of the preferences %
89	75	25	44

As an extravert, my ideal classroom environment would involve lots of interaction through class discussions and other activities. I learn the best working things out because I am action oriented. Through experiential learning, Bump has capitalized on my best learning environment. 

As an intuitive person, I thrive in environments that allow me the freedom to figure out original ways to solve problems. I do well with self-instruction paired with the opportunity to make my own choices in the classroom. Through leadership opportunities in the classroom, as well as creative based projects and blog freedom, Bump has sufficed these needs too! This class is ideal for my feeling side because it requires making a personal connection with classroom material and classmates (and Bump) alike. It is easy to see the relationship between the material and real life as they are one in the same. Lastly, for my judging side, I strive off of order and consistency. I love schedules and knowing deadlines in advance. Bump is true to his word, returning assignments when he promises, and keeping to the daily schedule. In retrospect, the classroom environment is clearly suitable to my ENFJ personality.

Other famous ENFJs

Bump, being an ISFJ, has a different ideal learning environment. As a teacher, he takes into account all the different types of personalities in the class and caters to them as much as possible. He allows time for reflection and independent thinking for the introverts in the class, as well as discussion for the extraverts. Extra credit opportunities allow for introverts to work independently to earn points. Bump, as a sensing type, caters to the five senses type of learning. Also incorporated in his experiential approach.

Wandering in Wonderland

Tonight I read through Alice and Wonderland (selections by Bump) by Lewis Carroll for the first time since my childhood. It brought back so many whimsical memories, but also relevant memories. This time, it reminded me of Tim Burton, pop culture, and the more mature side of Alice became apparent. Still, I pictured her as a sweet, innocent, dreamy little girl, and it took me awhile to understand why others view her character as sadistic or cruel. To me, she was dreaming of a world where she was on the same playing ground as the animals. To me, it was a story of equality and understanding. To me, it was an adventure in maturation. Some girl trying to find out who she is and where she fits in, in her mind, and in reality. So I read it again… 

Alice in Wonderland shoot by Annie Lebowitz

“'I wish I hadn’t cried so much!' said Alice, as she swam about, trying to find her way out. I shall be punished for it now, I suppose, by being drowned in my own tears! That WILL be a queer thing, to be sure! However, everything is queer to-day (Carroll,7).” Alice suddenly didn’t seem so sweet the second read through. She was only regretful of her actions when it comes back to be a burden for her. She didn’t think of the smaller creatures that might be affected by her puddle of tears, until she was forced down to their level to experience it herself. She didn’t think about those smaller when she was crying. In fact, such selfishness kept resurfacing when she interacted with animals. She never thinks of others, until she is put in the situation where she has to. She doesn’t have the ability or knowledge to know how to put herself in someone else’s shoes.

“Who in the world am I? Ah, THAT’S the great puzzle! (Carroll,5)” The story of Alice in wonderland is that of maturation. It happens naturally, all the time, when put in an unfamiliar situation. I could see how strange it would be to enter such a different world then what I’m used to, especially something I’ve been told is impossible. Like if you find a stray cat and take it in, the cat probably would be as scared as Alice in a strange house with a litter box. It’s like Cady in Mean Girls, where she thinks the rules in school are preposterous and foreign. Everyone handles situations differently, clinging to what they are familiar with to try to understand all the unfamiliar. 

The Capacity of Cruelty

Sadism (OED): Enthusiasm for inflicting, suffering, or humiliation on other others; spec. a psychological disorder characterized by sexual fantasies, urges, or behavior involving the subjection of another person to pain, humiliation, bondage, etc.

The Millgram experiment and the Stanford prison experiment results are uncannily similar. The details that shocked me the most were that the participants were white-middle class males, and that the results were so shockingly consistent. Dr. Blass “performed a meta-analysis on the results of repeated performances of the experiment… and found that the percentage of participants who are prepared to inflict fatal voltages remains remarkably constant, 61-66 percent, regardless of time or place (607).” Most people who read this experiment probably think that there are just a few “bad apples,” and that they would naturally be repulsed and not conditionally sadistic. These experiments prove that the problem is in the system, and not based on the individual psychological evaluative degrees. It is unbelievable how absorbed the guards, and prisoners alike, with their roles. 

The reasons for the quick impact on the participants change in behavior are attributed to their lack of responsibility for the consequences. Once they were assured that their actions wouldn’t be accounted for, their humanity went out the window, and evil desires smoothly took the place of once sympathetic, good, humans. The level of stress paired with the inescapable humiliation of the prisoners undoubtedly affected their behaviors, and fueled their desire to revolt and/or flee. After being stripped of privacy, power, and choice, the prisoners were rendered helpless, thus evoking fight or flight innate tendencies. The guards, on the other hand, inflicted damages surpassing the experimentation’s purpose. The guards conditioned themselves to be sadistic, even without being asked. Cruelty seemed to increase incrementally hour by hour, day by day, as the guards and participants lost individual identities, and group mentality took over. This made it easier for the guards to hide behind the experiment as an excuse for their inhumane, disgusting behavior, and this happens all the time...

        

“The link between animal abuse and interpersonal violence is becoming so well established that many U.S. communities now cross-train social-service and animal-control agencies in how to recognize signs of animal abuse as possible indicators of other abusive behaviors (Siebert, 619).” There is also a “mounting body of evidence about the link between such acts and serious crimes of more narrowly human concern, including illegal firearms possession, drug trafficking, gambling, spousal and child abuse, rape and homicide (Siebert, 618).” Domestic violence as well as serial and mass criminal violence often involves animals. For families suffering with domestic violence or abuse, the use or threat of abuse against companion animals is often used for leverage by the controlling/violent member of the family to keep others in line or silent. The violence may be in the form of spousal abuse, child abuse (both physical and sexual), or elder abuse. The statistics are chilling. Those who commit serial or mass criminal violence often use animals as "rehearsal" tools in their adolescence to work themselves up to the eventual abuse or killing of people. This link was first established 250 years ago, and it doesn’t seem to be changing. That means children who torture animals should be dealt with quickly, and it should be taken seriously. The child may be acting out because he/she is being abused or may be building up to something worse.

“The abuse of pit bulls [in particular] in dog-fighting activities, has achieved a higher profile after the 2007 arrest of the N.F.L. star Michael Vick for operating an illegal interstate dog-fighting operation in Surry County, Va. But the beleaguered pit bull is merely the most publicized victim of a phenomenon that a growing number of professionals — including police officers, prosecutors, psychologists, social workers, animal-control officers, veterinarians and dogcatchers — are now addressing with a newfound vigor: wanton cruelty toward animals. Before 1990, only six states had felony provisions in their animal-­cruelty laws; now 46 do (Siebert, 618).” History is replete with serial killers whose violent tendencies were first directed at animals. Albert DeSalvo (the “Boston Strangler”), who killed 13 women, trapped dogs and cats and shot arrows at them through boxes in his youth. Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer impaled frogs, cats, and dogs’ heads on sticks. Dennis Rader (the BTK killer), who terrorized people in Kansas, wrote in a chronological account of his childhood that he hanged a dog and a cat. During the trial of convicted sniper Lee Boyd Malvo, a psychology professor testified that the teenager, who killed 10 people with a rifle, had “pelted—and probably killed—numerous cats with marbles from a slingshot when he was about 14.

PETA suggestions to avoid further animal cruelty:

Urge your local law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, judges, and schools to take cruelty to animals seriously. Those charged with protecting our communities and animals must send a strong message that violence against any feeling creature—human or nonhuman—is unacceptable.

Be aware of signs of neglect or abuse in children and animals, and immediately report suspected crimes to authorities. Take children seriously if they report that animals are being neglected or mistreated. Some children won’t talk about their own suffering but will talk about an animal’s.

Don't ignore even minor acts of cruelty to animals by children. Talk to the child and the child’s parents. If necessary, call a social worker.

http://www.peta.org/