The last few months have highlighted our need for community. Despite the availability of technology and the ability to easily communicate to whomever and whenever we please, we live in an age of loneliness, where many people feel like they have few people (or even no one) that they can rely on for emotional support.

Social distancing has been a catalyst of personal growth for many of us as quarantine forced us into solitude and a period of self-reflection. It was the pause button on the busy-ness of everyday life that was uncomfortable, but needed. Empty grocery store shelves broke the illusion of infinite abundance, and alerted us to the fragility of modern society. After only a month of reduced transportation, city air and waterways got noticeably clearer.

These experiences seem to say, “You are not in this alone.”

Your actions are inexorably linked to every other person and living thing on the planet.

In the absence of being able to socialize, I realized how much I took it for granted. I realized all the people I wished I had reached out to and met when I had the chance before my university went online. I also remembered the times in which I was in need of help, desperate for community support but felt so alone.

During quarantine, I was learning about lightning and came across the term “Corona Discharge.” It is a luminous effect when an electric field causes charged particles to radiate from a conductive surface. If the electric field grows strong enough, or if the conductive object is brought close enough, this charge can arc between objects, as shown here.

The lesson from Corona is clear: If you want community, you have to reach out!

Similarly, we need to bridge gaps between perspectives.

We are facing many challenges that simply cannot be addressed in isolation. To the contrary, many of our problems arose from isolated thinking—from thinking that the isolated actions of one corporation, or of one person—doesn’t affect others. Now we know better.

The two main issues I will touch on are Black Lives Matter and the environment.

I’ve just concluded my first semester at technical university pursuing math and physics undergraduate degrees after a palm reader suggested this as a potentially more fulfilling career path for me than art.

When I graduated from high school and community college six years ago, I was certain that I would never want to return to academics. However, since starting school, I am pleasantly surprised to discover that I fit in perfectly! I’ve never felt more at ease and confident in my career direction before.

Are you as surprised as I am?

I enjoy my classes, and often seek additional learning resources outside of class. It feels like a long period of frustration and confusion is finally at a close.

Even still, this was the hardest semester I’ve ever had. The following are two projects that I worked on.

Red Tide Research Project

Much of my work this semester went to my technical writing class. The bulk of the class involved group work, organizing 1-3 group meetings a week, all awhile researching an approved topic. Our topic was red tide.

Red tide is a kind of microorganism that proliferates so rapidly that it turns seawaters red. It is a kind of harmful algae bloom that produces dangerous toxins that can affect respiratory and nervous systems.

When red tide is in bloom, the toxins it creates become airborne via sea spray. If inhaled, these toxins cause respiratory problems. If fish that have been contaminated with red tide are accidentally ingested, these toxins can cause Paralytic Shellfish Posioning, and can be fatal.

Of course, humans aren’t the only animals affected by red tide. It can cause massive fish kills, also kill marine mammals and birds, and can devastate any ecosystem in its wake.

When red tide affects an area, beaches are closed. It disrupts an area’s economy by negatively affecting tourism, fishing, and recreational industries. Red tide is a complex problem that negatively impacts public health, the ecosystem, and local economies.

My goal with this project as team leader was to create a report that would be useful: something that could even be referenced by people working on addressing red tide.

We are at odds with our home. We live in disharmony with Planet Earth. Rather than rehashing doomsday statistics, the pollution, ozone, and animal extinction rates, let’s see how simple mindset shifts can empower us to take positive action.

This post is about hope.

The first step is always the hardest. It is believing in new possibilities where before there were none. It is letting go of the overwhelm and powerlessness you may feel as a single human being on a vast planet in need of help.

The first part is accepting that no, you can’t do it all, but that also, your actions matter. Your way of living, of being, of thinking, touches everyone that you come into contact with and spreads. Sustainable change is gradual change, and as you know, this is a post about sustainability.

I invite you to make a difference with me. These changes will not be sudden or overwhelming, but to the contrary, are gradual, and might even be fun.