It was a bit difficult to understand, but the reading was interesting and also a way to understand the world differently. In the preface, ” Deterritorializing Preface” by Steve Mentz he mentions to us alternate from “land-based” thinking and to “ocean-based” thinking, which means he wants us of being stable and grounded with the same concept to see it as fluid, changing and spontaneous like the ocean itself. I enjoy the metaphors he uses to describe the ocean as something that can change our lives.” Our metaphors must float on water rather than resting on ground. In an aqueous environment, nothing stays on the surface forever.”( Mentz, xvi), this quote is very relevant and true because nothing stays forever as we must continue with more ideas flowing and coming to our lives instead of being stuck forever in the same routine, lifestyle, ideas, etc. We must continue to evolve in order to improve in our cognitive skills, specifically language.
Thinking, in a oceanic way, can help us see connections, vulnerability and also change our ways in life to something new. I always describe and see the ocean as a human being who can think, shape, and destructible. Amidst of climate change, we need to see the ocean as a a powerful force that can shape a human life. Observing on how the ocean is deteriorating slowly by pollution, plastic waste, etc, Mentz wants us to see it as an awakening towards the direction on how urgent
Hi Darian! After reading your blog post for this week, I wanted to comment on your thoughts about “nothing stays the same forever”. While that is inherently true, the “things” within our lives that constantly change don’t necessarily disappear either. Much like a shipwreck, for example, while it no longer floats on the surface of the ocean, sinking deeper below the surface, hidden from the rest of the world, that doesn’t mean that it is gone for good. It becomes something that can both harm and be of use to the environment around it. Fragments might break off and be consumed by the wildlife around them, or in turn become a home to them. Reverting back to the self, the parts of us that sink below the surface never really disappear; they just become something that changes who we are, flowing with the current.