Taiga the Coyote

Progress on my girl 🐛

counting (to 8) 🎵

Legs

escape

I don’t know what it is like to live without this grief we share. I have been grieving since too early in my childhood for that. But the more we weaken under the weight of our conscience, the less of a fight we can put up. So we must change ourselves into fighters who can revel in the challenge of this battle- the greater the odds are against us, the more rewarding every inch of our success. We must employ our vigor to defend the good in the world- and no matter how many losses already taken, we must never lose sight of how much more there is to save, all the life and health and love and beauty that remains to fight for.

I think we need to make our mental wellbeing a priority not by drowning out our sorrows, but by adopting a frame of mind that’ll make us able soldiers in this literally world-shaping struggle.

Another tip: I believe we should all do helpful stuff on our tangible issues of concern, no matter how small the acts, as self-care. Giving ourselves the ability to act on our conscience is what I consider to be an ultimate freedom with the ultimate therapeutic effect.

Your friendly neighborhood CIG (Certified Interpretive Guide) here to tell you that this phenomenon is well-documented, and even has a name: ecophobia.

If I recall my certification class correctly, the term “ecophobia” was coined for this problem by David Sobel. (And if he didn’t coin it, he certainly made very good use of it.) In this context, ecophobia is defined as “a feeling of powerlessness to prevent cataclysmic environmental change.” 

The fear that comes with ecophobia is absolutely paralyzing. It is overwhelming. It has led many a promising, passionate person to throw their hands up and shout “I give up!! It’s never going to change!” It really, really sucks.

When I worked as an educator at a major US aquarium a year or so ago, I lived each day with a creeping sense of my own ecophobia. My job, of course, was to inspire hope and change in the aquarium’s guests… but in order to know where the hope was, I had to know all the nitty-gritty details, all of the ugliest and most soul-crushing facts about the environment’s destruction. 

I knew way too much about how the planet was dying. I knew that, statistically, while I talked to a woman about using reusable shopping bags, a sea turtle was probably out in the ocean somewhere, about to chomp on a single-use one and choke. While I talked to a family about conserving the rainforest by choosing sustainable coffee, tea, and chocolate, acres of trees were being razed in South America. Sharks were being finned. Reefs were bleaching and dying. All of the things I was encouraging people to do weren’t even a drop in the bucket–they were the atoms in a drop. Sometimes I just wanted to scream. Sometimes, on the drive home, I did scream. More than once, I pulled over onto the side of the highway, parked my car, and screamed and cried until I was numb. 

But you know what got me through? You know what gave me hope?

The kids.

Most of my programming was aimed towards kids. Asking them to count a horseshoe crab’s legs and tell me if they can name any other animals with ten. Letting them touch a shark’s toothy jaw or a caiman’s skull or a sea turtle’s carapace. Encouraging them to pick up and shake and sniff things on a discovery cart. Resting a turtle shell on their back and telling them to swim their arms like a sea turtle, or asking them to give me their best dolphin impression.

Something that a lot of people take for granted is that, even to an eight year old with a smartphone and unlimited data, a lot of the world is totally new and undiscovered. They’re learning new things every day. Some of it’s exciting. Some of it’s scary. But all of it is interesting to a degree, and all of it presents an opportunity to connect them to the world around them, if presented the right way. And seeing their eyes light up, seeing the connection forming in their mind, gave me more hope than I can describe.

In interviews, articles, and his own books (I highly recommend Beyond Ecophobia: Reclaiming the Heart in Nature Education), Sobel lays forth the idea that our biggest problem is the disconnect between ourselves and the environment. Our greatest hope for the future lies in fostering those connections with the generations that will follow us. In connecting them to the natural world. In encouraging them to develop empathy and concern for its many parts. In giving them the tools and support and letting them take the helm. This article is a fantastic read, laid out very clearly and in plain language, and illustrates just how that works.

Here’s a great section from it (bolding mine):

Sixth graders. Ten and eleven year olds influenced lawmakers and got a bunch of adults to care about and clean up a section of their city. And this was in ‘89. None of those kids had smartphones or social media, but they were able to organize and change the law of the land, because they cared about their home and got enough people to care about it too. And they did it in under two years.

So to return to my original point: Ecophobia is terrifying. Ecophobia is paralyzing. Not even the people who are trained to fight against it are protected from its grip. It’s okay to feel overwhelmed and afraid.

But if you can, encourage the kids. Support the next generation.We’re not going to fix this, and neither are they. But we can start slowing it down, and they can put the brakes on harder, and so on and so on, through the generations, until maybe, one day, things start to get better.

It’s all we can do.

@sweetiesugarbird

I drew Sugar for you!

Face on fire

classically trained but we’ll still fuck ya up

ETSY STORE  II  FACEBOOK  II  INSTAGRAM  II  ESCARONARTS

What you see is your perception. What you see is your reflection. Dont judge a book by its cover. Never judge. Not even now. 

- Your perception of me is a reflection of you - 

So maybe some of you recognize this lill lady. One of the first artdolls I made about 2 years ago now. Time flies. I felt I wanted to do the Doe justice with a outside photoshoot. And here she is in all of her glory. :) I still like her very much up to this day, even if there was a lot I didnt know about artdoll making and sculpting back then. But on the other hand, Ive still got tooons to learn. Thats what make it fun! :D 

© 2018 Linda Escaron Lundqvist all rights reserved 

theyre fine theyre fine its fine

There’s still time to place your orders for the holidays for all sorts of hide and bone art, as well as my books on nature-based paganism! You can find most of my work at http://thegreenwolf.etsy.com, though over at http://thegreenwolf.storenvy.com you’ll find unique items not available on Etsy, so check ‘em both out! My next shipment goes out Friday morning, so now’s an awesome time to order.

I’ve recently started putting my work up on Instagram (@dappermouth) as well! If any of you would like to follow me there, that would mean a lot to me ♥

I’m drunk and I can’t find the lizard king comic or remember the author’s name.

This one?

FUCK!!! YES!!! THIS

I couldn’t find an official artist website  for Abby Howard so here is the website for one of her ongoing webcomics Junior Scientist Power Hour

another ongoing webcomic The Last Halloween

here’s her tumblr

she likes lizards. a lot.  this is from her patreon page

Threads by Lyla Mori

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FInd him for adoption HERE!

You see it among the trees. A shadow moving silently through the forest. As it comes closer you realize its a big stag. A stunning creature, a true king of the wild. You cant take your eyes of off it. How lucky you are to have come this way altho the game warden told you not to venture out on your own. You smile as you watch the animal get even closer. You blink your eyes. You blink again. Something… is off. The yellow-white face on a otherwise dark body. The way its head is twitching. And how the crown of antlers seem to move in strange patterns. You furrow your brow but before your next line of thoughts take hold of your mind the animal sees you. And it change. From the ragged body a pair of long arms unfold. Hands with thinn, sharp fingers are placed firmly on the ground, one on each side of its body, and with a heave it rise its upperbody and front hooves in the air, standing even taller on hind legs and long arms potruding from the withers. It throws back its head and screams, one hollow, dislocated sound, and then it rush towards you, six limbs giving it speed like no other animal. You dont even get a chance to take one single step before its upon you, empty blackness greeting you from the eye sockets of a grinning skull, ten arms outstreched and hands reaching. ———–

This guy is completely handmade and original, ooak (one of a kind) and my own take on the mythical wendigo. He is fully posable, even the antlers/hands and every finger on all the 10 hands are, as is his jaw. Face, feet, ears and antlers are sculpted with lots of details and then painted and sealed. The body is made with high quality faux fur that Ive trimmed and he glow in the dark - his antlers, eye sockets, 2 long arms, mark on the forehead and teeth all glow for several hours.  There will never be another one like him. ©2018 Linda Escaron Lundqvist all rights reserved

Sometimes they were almost beautiful, if you didn’t think about the repercussions of their collective presence, about how they were just one big walking signpost that read “it has all gone to shit, and nothing can be good again”.

Nov 30: Remembrance Day For Lost Species