#copencreate

“Hang In There”

An art piece I made for myself out of: a fallen branch I found while walking home, a canvas, floral wire and a sharpie. It is very deliberate that this piece is incredibly simple and unrefined.

As much as it is a message to myself it is also a pleading for Mother Nature to hang on just a little longer while the human species attempts to emotionally mature enough to no longer destroy its own habitat.

Introducing the official Cope N’ Create logo

Radical Acceptance

For over 2 decades I was tortured by the idea that humanity was failing the Earth and itself. I revered the beauty of Mother Nature and envisioned what I believed humankind could achieve were we to actualize our full potential and work alongside Her. I desperately wanted to contribute to finding solutions for the world’s problems (primarily, the majority of the species not having their basic needs met and the destruction of our habitat) but as I aged and moved through “the real world” I came to the harsh realization that things are working exactly as intended.

Growing up I was socialized to believe that it was conspiratorial to acknowledge how oligarchy has oppressed the majority of the species. Because of that I could not fathom that those with the majority of society’s power and resources were simultaneously aware of society’s problems, the solutions to those problems and how they could implement those solutions - while also choosing not to, so as to ensure their own status remained exclusive. But that is exactly what has happened. The average human functionally lives in captivity and is a wage slave whose income is tied to their time. Diseases of the mind ravage the overly concentrated populations that are pushed to continuing breeding the next generation of consumers despite the Earth’s fleeting capability to manage the stress of housing our destructive species. There is no way for someone who truly loves this Earth and its inhabitants and wants the best for them to exist inside this system without going insane. And so insane I went. Searching frantically for a sign that things would turn around for the better soon, as they are said to always eventually do. Further and further I spiraled trying to find a way to maintain hope; until one day I realized that there doesn’t need to be hope if hope is what has become the primary pillar of your suffering.

I am far too educated in social science (see: history, psychology, etc.) and apt at pattern recognition to ignore the concerning trajectory of our species and the outcome it will more than likely have on the planet. What has come to cause me the most harm is believing that we (Earth, its inhabitants and the human race) are destined for better than this. The idea that “we” had to win in the end made me fight against reality and in the end my own best interest. When I had finally ran out of sorrow I wondered “what if”? What if the world isn’t meant to be saved? What if our species is meant to self-destruct? What if this is it? Upon first ponder the idea was crushingly morbid, but the longer I mulled it over the more freedom I found. I had subconsciously been making myself feel responsible for the outcome of the species. I was exerting unsustainable amounts of energy fighting a battle that can not be won. And it felt so good to finally surrender.