In Praise of Walt Disney’s Nature Advocacy and What May Be Missing with 4 Questions

 

In Praise of Walt Disney’s Nature Advocacy ... What May Be Missing with 4 Questions

“How could this Earth of ours, which is only a speck in the heavens, have so much variety of life, so many curious and exciting creatures.” Walt Disney

There is no doubt that Walt Disney was an advocate of nature and conservation. Even at the beginning, he brought live deer into the studio so Bambi could be characterized correctly. He brought to life animals, birds and fish photographed in living color to capture every move and emotion. He helped us to walk with elephants, hunt with jungle cats, swarm with dolphins and wait patiently as penguins survived another blizzard. There is no doubt through his nature documentaries and feature films, we were educated, affiliated, bonded and even protective of our wildlife neighbors.

Perhaps more than anyone he highlighted the meaning of Anthropomorphism which attributes human characteristics, emotions, and behaviors to animals or other non-human things including objects, plants, and supernatural beings.  Who hasn’t watched the Lion King and shared the emotions of youthful exuberance and curiosity,  angry and jealous family tensions, unknown overwhelming dangers, and the redemption of the circle of life? My 5-year-old niece cried inconsolably, but so did I share a few tears of joy. The spark of sublimity was lit for lions for all time.

No doubt his cartoons of Mickey Mouse brought to life a walking talking mouse with his family, friends, adversaries, a nice home with everyday problems. He was cute with big round eyes, button nose, normal  tail, an outlined plump body dressed in red shorts and wearing large yellow gumboots. As onlookers we could relate to everyday people problems but may not look as kindly at a real mouse occupying our own house.

But a mouse is not a human character who worries about shopping, driving or partying. The cartoon did not help to explain how a mouse lives and struggles in the real field … his burrows, food supply and food web, his numerous offspring, his lifespan and purpose in the environment. Only a basic understanding of ecology could validate his existence and worth to his true community.

Perhaps, too many Disney fairy tale characters are flawlessly pictured that may imply to children that a perfect face and body can live happily ever after.  Perhaps, too many of the fire-bolting, muscular exaggerations of mighty superheroes may imply that supernatural powers are needed for success...the bigger the better.

The timeless power of nature in its collective multidimensional forms is the strongest of all forces that dominate our Earth’s life support without which we couldn’t survive.

The more you learn, the more you understand the good news that Nature follows ecological principles which means that its real power is not about might, disorganization or destruction,  but about managing connections and restoring balance and unity.

Only interactions with humans disrupt these cycles. Could it be because they just don’t know enough synchronicity from the soil up to the clouds? Or how the missing link of a small honeybee could seriously limit the world’s food supply?

We need to hear this message loudly and clearly because ecological emergencies must be reduced all around the planet before natural cycles can’t redeem the imbalances or mediate the suffering of all living beings. Only a diversified communication mass media conglomerate like Disney can share the information creatively with facts and fantasy … combining science with creative art.   

What may be missing is a character from an eco-fiction source. Imagine if water could talk about its survival or a tree celebrate its partnerships and succession?  

Eco-fiction is a story that talks about the relationship between natural settings and human communities. The characters inhabit an ecosystem based on ecological principles that call attention to act responsibly to be good ethical stewards of the Earth. They share the reality of microorganisms, photosynthesis, food webs, carbon dominance, pollution, and changing weather patterns as first-person experiences. They share their joys, fears and hopes. They give warnings of dangers to ignore their messages.

A good eco-fiction asks 4 key questions:

1. Can storytelling help to change societal norms and feelings about conservation and sustainability?
2. Why is biological diversity so important to environmental sustainability?
3. Why are cycles the language of nature from nitrogen to carbon to nutrients to pollutants to greenhouse gases and more?
4. Why look at the environment as a work in process … not a given constant or photograph?

So, here is an eco-fiction idea for consideration called The Incredible Journey of a Water Sprite with Roots.

In a culture where fantastical superheroes and Mickey Mouse abound, maybe it’s time to meet a real superhero whose live is essential to sustain all life on Earth.  His mission is to discover Earth’s Cyclical Truths with natural affinity as both a water element and plant that makes him a primary consumer in the ecosystem.  He narrates his personal journey as he walks and talks through his  many experiences with lifeforms essential to ecology and shares his amazement at several natural cycles. He falls in love twice ... the impossible and the probable. It is only when he encounters humankind that he feels a loss of self; and learns consciously, and sometimes painfully, the truth for the need for preservation of balance in nature. 

What is more important to Earth’s survival than fresh clean water?

What is more important than a fresh, clean water cycle?

Disney is a natural fit to produce a movie like this but there may be other production companies who may be interested in an eco-fiction movie to help educate the masses and preserve our fresh water supply?

"No one will protect what they don’t care about, and no one will care about what they have never experienced."  Sir David Attenborough

Please comment about your favorite Disney movie or documentary. 

Questions and comments are always welcome.

Annemarie

amarie10@gmail.com

833 4471 4661 (please leave your best time to talk)

Excerpt... the water sprite returns to the pond now polluted...

Then I stop, unblinking and unthinking in shock. What I see is more frightening than the strangest invasion of any alien beings, I'm sure.

A new colony has appeared on the bottom sludge. A series of finger-like tubes are projecting out of the mud with long bluish grey worms twisting and turning their way to the top. Moving through and around the tube worms are other blood red worms, wriggling and waving back and forth with lapping tongues clearly seen in their open mouths picking up any food particles on the currents. Is that saliva dribbles I see floating by?

.

 

...these are actual biological changes in polluted water with less oxygen

How to Rethink Beyond Advice To Right Mindset to Help Counter Teen Cell Phone Addiction

How to Rethink Beyond Advice To Right  Mindset to Help Counter Teen Cell Phone Addiction

Do you know that a new field of social media psychology has come into existence in the past 10 to 15 years? This early research still has many gaps about how the consequences of social media dependence will affect our children’s future. 

 “What’s at stake isn’t just how kids experience adolescence, but the constant presence of smartphones is likely to affect them well into adulthood.” Jean Twenge, psychologist

Stop and think, it is only two decades since the internet revolution began changing our psychology and society forever. Cell phones have populated like quack grass; weedy, swampy in some places, as well as with extraordinary blooms of success. Since we can’t turn the hands of time backwards we need to learn to adapt, adjust and survive; sink or swim in this digital virtual world, spectacle or disturbance at your fingertips, reality or lies.

Psychologist talk about cell phone addiction now. Here are some familiar symptoms:

• Impulsive checking the phone every few minutes. .immediate stimuli and response
• Withdrawing from family or shared events to use smartphone
• Sleep disturbances related to checking pings and messages
• Negative effects on school, family, social or emotional functioning like sadness or depression
• Increased anxiety or irritability if phone is not available

Psychologists also realize so much of this behavior is related to the  brain’s own neurochemicals’ production.  Beginning research finds " social media use can make profound changes to the brain in similar ways that drug addiction can … receiving likes on the internet releases dopamine in the brain. This creates a sense of pleasure … similar triggers include eating chocolate or winning money."

However, on the other side, there is an unofficial condition called nomophobia, an abbreviation of no-mobile-phone, which causes withdrawal symptoms and releases a stress hormone called cortisol.  So, with or without the phone, the brain pays its own neurochemical transmitters' toll. Conditioning sets in, motivation heightens,  addiction begins to readily program the brain to find more pleasurable rewards again and again, regardless of consequences.

Would we agree that the problem to change even a habit, much less an addiction, is difficult through will power alone? First, you need to admit you have a problem and have reasons to change.  Second, now to make changes, you have to find new  activities without cell phones. 
Can teenagers do this while in the middle of the digital stream, doing what everyone else is doing as acceptable?

Examples of activities minus the cellphone:

• No Phones in the bedroom … no disturbances … no debate
• No phones at family meals or family outings … no debate
• Limit access to social media, games, etc. after homework is finished
• Put your phone in "Airplane mode" to cut out constant stream of noise
• Turn Off Push Notifications like texts, messages, etc. to stop reflex to check every ping
• Parents can check devices at certain times in the evening and out in the morning
• Set goals with time-management tools (monthly, weekly, daily) to be monitored by teen...no nagging by parent
• Keep open dialogue about pros and cons with pop star realities, many unrealistic. 
• Limit texting … talk to your friend
• Stimulate other positive interests in helping the community   
• Set limits as adults in order to model healthy behavior
• Don't punish by taking cellphone away - social amputation. Instead offer rewards for limiting use for certain time periods. 

The bottom line is there's no doubt that too much screen time affects teenagers’ physical actions, emotional experiences, and social relationships.  Who would disagree that it is the right time to talk about both the benefits and pitfalls of screen time and how to use smartphones responsibly? Wasted time versus useful time matters to everyone.

Beyond all this actionable advice, I believe that every teen girl must also create an inbuilt internal mindset that her personal  time is precious, and she will choose carefully and wisely how to spend it.

So, I wrote a teen girl story as a first-person narration to put the reader into her shoes and to live her experiences as she discovers the value of time itself as redemption at the end.  Questions are asked like “if you could see your future, would you make the same choices today.“ The elements of time are discussed within a strange paradox that time can only be managed in a very small-time frame called today and today can be directed by an even smaller matter of choice. The matter of making a smart choice is not “flipping a coin” but using a simple script regarding 3 levels of experience and other factors.

The progression of the story is to create the right MINDSET that time is your most important asset or value. Then it makes good sense to use a superpower tool to make smart choices in different situations.  At the end of trials and tribulations, the teen girl looks at her open hand holding her timeline, knowing it is her responsibility. The reader can adopt her mindset or not, a common denominator that all girls can respond to and choose to take care of their personal quality time.  

It seems a natural solution that the more time can be spent on celebrating a timeline,  the more important it becomes. What if, it is possible to create a strong, undeniable mindset that my OFFLINE personal  time is as important, if not more important, than my ONLINE time scrolling and moiling on Social Media? Is it possible to believe that this personal mindset might be the right solution or antidote to help counter this teen cell phone addiction? 

It is certainly an idea worth checking out.

Questions and comments are always welcome. What are your ideas to help curb teen cell phone usage? Or do think this is even a problem?

Annemarie

amarie10@gmail.com

1 833 471 4661   

PS: Do you know any podcast hosts who would be interested in talking about teen girls' struggles, regrets and survival on social media? Check out ten questions open to discussion

Excerpt from Teen Girl Faces Time in the Sand

I raise my eyes and watch the wide range of the river flowing southward messaging to beware of stronger and deeper currents ahead. 

What if, I could message such direct purpose to mean what I really believe?

I know there is power in the river. A young boy had once been swept away in its current by swimming too far from shore.

There is power in the internet. In fact, it has solidly bonded with our society.  The choice is to stay connected or disconnected, to be more informed or less informed, have more confidence or have more fear,  keep your mind open or keep it closed.

It doesn't have to be a monster devouring its Selfie offspring tethered on Celties. But I get the difference now that I have a super power, too, unto myself to make to respect my shorelines.  It is a wide open world of choice. Make it a world of smart, well informed choices.

Ten Questions for Pod Show Hosts Interested to Advocate for Teen Girls Rights on Social Media

Ten Questions for Pod Show Hosts Interested to Advocate for Teen Girls' Rights on Social Media  

 Now they are targeting smartphones and social media. On January 6th two large investors in Apple demanded that the technology company must help parents curtail their children’s iPhone use, citing research into the links between adolescent social-media habits and risk factors for suicide, such as depression. Old and new media abound with reports about phones’ addictive, mind-warping properties. On the school run, parents compare tactics for limiting screen time.    The Economist. Jan. 11, 2018

I am excited and ready to enter a new phase of internet marketing. Excellent mentor ship brings me into the exciting world of  iPod shows and broadcasting.

Social Media is alive and well; Tweets still twitter; YouTube videos shine and sing; Facebook shouts out a worldwide audience; but, nothing can compare to having a conversation with a smart iPod show host or hostess for an hour to explain the premise of my new e-book called Teen Girl Faces Time in the Sand.

I am now ready to make my entrance on this world-wide stage in awe of this opportunity with the sincerest hope that any information I can share will help teen girls to view that their personal offline time is as important, if not more important, than being plugged into an alternate reality. I believe there is no other common antidote to this extreme cell phone and Selfie conditioning except a deep personal mindset that My Time is precious, respected and protected as explained in the story.

Here are ten questions I will be answering:

1. You are an educator for 24 years. What changed from when you first started to decades after?
2. How has social media robbed teen girls from the normal rites of passage between child and adult?
3. There have been studies done on the development of the brain in adolescents. How does the adolescent brain process differently than the adult brain?
4. In your book, there are many learning points. What would you say is the number on learning point in the story that can help teens change their internet habits?
5. What is the main reason teen girls don't want to give up their internet time?
6. Why do you use symbols as main characters, as antagonist vs protagonist?
7. You talk about a superpower to manage time. What is the superpower tool to make smart choices versus decisions or habits? 
8. How can parents help their teen daughters to reduce their social media time?
9. How is it possible that fake Selfies can affect our deeper cultural values?
10. What lesson plans help to practice some of the new ideas or concepts in this story?

I look forward to talking with any persons, or referrals, who may be interested in these topics. No teenage girl could write a story like this, but a long traditional lifeline can offer resources to cope with such drastic societal changes. Who else can advocate on behalf of teenage girls to prevent their exploitation on the internet? They will not just “grow out of it” but pass this sub-culture as young mothers to their children.  I believe we should try to find a common denominator for every teen girl to find her true Self and find a place to be a real Somebody in her real world.

What kind of questions would you ask?  What bothers you about the teenage sub-culture?

Please request my One Page Expert Sheet and Media Review.

I look forward to talking with you. Together, we can continue to find a timely solution.

Sincerely,

Annemarie Berukoff

Amarie10@gmail.com

833 471 4661

https://helpfulmindstreamforchanges.com

New Kindle e-book: Teen Girl Faces Time in the Sand  

Excerpt: You understand that the future only appears as a vision and today is the only time you have to react to anything. What if you had the power to connect to the future to help direct your present actions to fulfill that future?  I wonder what kind of choices you'd make ….would they be the same."

But what if there is some kind of super power tool to help make better choices to take you into adulthood?