SOUNDINGS
Auschwitz Liberation - 75 years
We made the trip to honor the victims of the Holocaust last year. I lack words to describe the feeling. Instead, here are a few of my images.
Ruben Rivers, MoH
Quote on Wilderness
"My feeling is we need to save wilderness for its own sake, for the mysterious and complex knowledge it has with it." --David Brower as interviewed in Jonathan White's book "Talking on the Water"
Blue Spaces & Mental Health
A September 2019 study at the University of Exeter suggests that living close to the coast might be good for mental health. There are a few quotes that stand out to me as a photographer focused on nature and nautical subjects:
- "..the growing evidence that access to blue spaces--particularly coastal environments--might improve health and well-being."
- "This kind of research into blue health is vital to convincing governments to protect, create and encourage the use of coastal spaces." (Dr. Matthew White, University of Exeter)
- "Approximately one in six adults in England suffer from mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression, and these are far more likely in people from poorer backgrounds. The findings suggest that access to the coast could help to reduce these health inequalities in towns and cities close to the sea."
This study is part of Europe's BlueHealth project that investigates the links between climate, environment, and health. For more information click here: BlueHealth
To read the University of Exeter study or the excerpt from Science Daily, click here: Exeter Study
Source: University of Exeter. "Coastal living linked with better mental health: Living close to the sea could support better mental health." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 30 September 2019. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/09/190930214514.htm>.
9/11 on 11/15
As the sun creeps up towards the horizon outside my window, I am thinking about the terrorist attacks of 9/11: a terrible day in American history, a devastating day for those who died and their friends and families. Today is November 15, 2019. The date has no direct link to 9/11, only in how it starts--a sunny morning with beautiful blue skies: a seemingly normal day. I studied terrorism as an undergraduate, and I am reminded that the root of the word is "terror. " The reach of terrorism is long: violent acts create fear in people who are actually safe, it has them question their own security without any real threat--days, years, even decades later. As we near Thanksgiving, I am thankful for our military and for the civilian women and men who defend our country, and for our first responders who risk their lives for people they have never met. Americans united after 9/11, and we saw the strength, respect, and courage of our fellow citizens. I guess any day is a good day to remember those we lost and those who protect us.