Hi beautiful people,
If you don't know me, my name is Raquel. I am a Vet and painter from Barcelona, living in Bristol. And you may wonder, what are you doing here?
Well, I say, it’s a fucking long story (kind of). Get comfortable because I tend to go on a bit!
I have been thinking about opening a blog for a while. As I mentioned earlier, I am a Vet as a profession, but this is something that more and more feels not wrong, but incomplete and unfulfilling (despite it’s an amazing job which I still love). I discovered during lockdown that I am an artist, a Creatrix. I especially enjoy painting, I always did, but I just believed (irrationally) that I wasn’t any good at it. And I also have been discovering in the last few years that I am passionate about mental health, psychology, spirituality, consciousness, healing, feminine empowerment, self-care, etc; and about society, politics, anticapitalism, equality, climate change, injustice, antiracism, and the list goes on.
So, with this background, and seeing how the world is right now, I feel that I want to share. Well, I don’t want to as I can be quite shy and I find difficult sharing my opinion with strangers, but I need to. My art, my opinion and my words may not change the world, but I can’t just sit back and watch all the shit while it goes down. So here I am!
I want to be clear, this is just my opinion, and how I see things. I am a person who also makes mistakes (often). And I am not an expert, and my only motivation is to get people thinking and questioning, and hopefully having some interesting conversations and debates. I am open to have chats and to hear what you think! Please feel free to comment! 😊
In this post, apart from introducing myself, I wanted to have a quick (quick?) chat about mental health and the world’s health, as they go hand in hand. I am a firm believer that if people had the time, the space, and the support to take care of their mental health, their bodies, and their traumas, then the world would also be a better place. Think about it: where do wars come from? Mainly from economic benefit and capitalism, which is coming from greed and desire of power, which is coming from fear and trauma.
Another remark here, of course the main thing is to have our essential needs met such as water, food, and a roof over our heads.
THE WORLD’S HEALTH
We all know it, it’s fucked up.
We live in this society and this capitalist system where the main, most important thing, is money. Money moves the world and controls everything within it, including us. Businesses make money, and it doesn’t matter if they destroy the planet or other people, because they are not accountable for it. The governments allow it because the businesses provide money to the governments and countries. At the same time, governments give money to businesses because this way they produce more money. It’s a cycle of money between governments and businesses. Of course, some of these things we can agree are necessary somehow: energy, food, housing, medications... The problem comes when money is the first and most important thing, and not people.
For example, the energy produced through fossil fuels is destroying the environment, the natural habitats, other animals, and will destroy us in the process. The governments could invest more in renewable energy, but governments keep investing in fossil fuels, because it just moves a lot of money. Stop lying to us, we know.
The agricultural system uses up a total of 50% of the habitable land, from which 77% is to feed livestock (FAO). Most of the deforestation is to plant soy and other cereal that goes mainly to feed livestock (as I said, only 23% of the plants planted feed humans!). And there’s a massive production of CO2 and use of water associated to producing livestock. And the thing is, we don’t need it, we can eat plants (or at least we can reduce massively). In fact, there’s so many studies demonstrating that meat and animal products are not that good for us. And I haven’t even gone into the moral implications of eating animals, we all love animals, don’t we? But livestock and fishing (we all have seen Seaspiracy, or if you haven’t just go and see it) are still funded massively by the government, with our taxes! If these taxes were used to fund the production of plants, in an organic way, locally, through permaculture, giving jobs to local workers, not only could we feed all humans, we would also be healthier, our planet would have less contamination, much more surface for nature and wild animals, and it would just be a more beautiful and happy place. We should live in harmony and respect nature, not fighting and destroying it. This is just my rant, you can find the data I am referring to easily, you don’t have to just believe me. I am happy if this just makes somebody question what we are being told, so you can take your own decisions.
Technology, clothes, furniture... same old same. Nowadays the fast production of these items, make them affordable for all of us. Now we can have a phone and other luxuries that we would have never imagined. Not only that, we can have a lot of everything because it’s cheap. But what’s behind it? It’s a linear system. A linear system where they produce massive amounts, sell cheaply and throw away when it’s not in fashion anymore. This implies a use of natural resources and energy to produce these goods. It also implies using people in developing countries for a minimal salary and working even in dangerous environments sometimes (modern slavery). And it finally implies landfill full of shit that we don’t want any more because it doesn’t go with our decor, or it never fit in the first place! It’s just unsustainable. Think about it, nature is not linear, nature is cyclic. Plants grow, are eaten by animals, which are eaten by other animals, which die, get decomposed by fungus and bacteria, and create energy that feeds plants again! Magic! Perfect balanced miracle of life. Our linear and patriarchal society is against nature, we should live in a cyclic society that is in balance with nature. We must, in order to survive.
And what about the tech companies and media? People spend their lives going to work, then being too tired to do anything else than watching TV or swiping through Instagram. They entertain us so we can’t think or question what’s going on. Not only that, they redirect what we see so it’s more aligned with our “taste” (thanks to taking our data). The system is fucked, and money is everything. But as long as they keep your mind away from it, or so confused with misinformation, or so tied up on radicalism, they win. People won’t come together as one to demand a fair and free society, as we are too busy fighting each other for small differences. And yes, the internet is also good, as thanks to it, we can precisely be aware of these issues. But it’s a slippery slope, and not all is black or white.
And these are just a few industries (the ones that piss me off the most). Let’s leave that there for now as I could go on for hours and this is just my first post!
PEOPLE’S HEALTH
How this relates to mental health is very interesting. It’s a fact that the capitalist system is a white supremacist patriarchy. It was created by white males, for white males (who are the richest people in the world? Mainly white males). It’s based on exploitation of the less fortunate part of society (poor people, BIPOC people, women...) to create huge benefit for a small percentage.
I do believe that women are naturally cyclic (we go through a cycle every month, I’ll go much more into that in future posts) and that the natural feminine energy is more caring and is necessary in our planet more than ever. I’m not saying women only, both men and women have this energy based in feeling and intuition. The energy that rules the planet is an unbalanced masculine energy that is selfish and entitled (note that healthy masculine energy is good and needed). It is also a fact, that indigenous people have been the ones caring for the environment while white privileged societies have been the main contributors to its destruction through the capitalist system and a system based on profit.
And the thing is, we talk about developed countries. But how the fuck are we developed really? Are we higher in the evolutive scale? Are we smarter? Are we happier? NOPE, I guess we just have more money. But who cares? Are people happier? So what is the point in the production, destruction, money making? Just power? Society and economico-political systems should be there to help people and support people’s happiness (all people!). But how can we make a healthy system when we have a poor mental health?
Really, if you think about it, what I am saying here is quite simple. Simple things are what make people the happiest: self-love, nature, community, arts and creativity, movement, expression... These are the same things that are needed in our societies, in our political and economic systems so we can thrive and not drown.
Being in contact with nature.
We don’t own nature or the world, we are part of it as other animals and people. Nature is our Mother, our Goddess. It gives us everything we need to survive, and it bring us beauty and peace. Go for a walk, or for a swim in nature. Walk shoeless on the grass. Plant your own tomatoes and take care of them. Go camping. Learn permaculture...
Embracing our feelings (or feminine energy) and going through our trauma.
Society has taught us that if we cry, if we speak too loudly, if we are sad, there is something wrong with us. And if we express it in front of others, we are weak. So, we go to work even when we are anxious or sad and we put a smile on our faces in front of our shouting clients. We have alcohol, drugs, as we don’t know how to deal with these emotions and feelings that makes us feel as we are drowning. And not only that, we all have trauma, we are all conditioned by our parents, our teachers, society. We act the way we act because we learnt it, but it’s not the only way.
We could have a society where it’s ok to feel and have emotions, it’s ok to tell other people, it’s ok to go into your feelings and understand why they are there so you can take action or make a change. And it’s not only ok, it’s respected and embraced by yourself and others. Wouldn’t that be beautiful? Wouldn’t that be authentic and real? Wouldn’t people feel supported and less depressed overall? Which would in turn bring a more understanding, kind and peaceful planet? We can build that world.
Time for self-love and self-care.
It seems that we don’t have time for this. Eating properly? No time, I’ll get fast food. Doing meditation or yoga? Nope, I need to go to work. Going for a walk? Nah, It’s easier to watch TV. And so on , and so on. I do it too! And it’s not our fault. We are exhausted physically and mentally! We are too busy with work and everything else going on around us. And that’s how they want us to be. Producing for the system, giving more, and too busy to judge it or question it. They make us think we need the money to buy expensive things that will makes us happy, so we work for them, but that is the biggest lie. Loving yourself, giving yourself time to just be, being kind towards yourself, doing hobbies or exercise that you enjoy or that make you feel better, being with your community (family and friends). Those are the things that makes us happy. We need more time to ourselves and less stress, not more money. But we are kind of trapped into it, especially if you are on minimal/low salaries as we also need to survive. That’s the point, they want us trapped.
Creativity.
Creating doesn’t come from our thinking minds, it comes from deeper within. Everything in this planet is creation, Mother Nature’s creation. And everything we know that comes from humans, was also somebody’s creation at some point. Life is creation, women create life. Life creates more life. Creating is basic to nature and humans and is within all of us. You don’t need to be an artist to be a creator: some people cook, or makes buildings, or writes, or cuts hair, or invents... Creativity is needed more than ever. But creativity for ourselves, not for the system. Creativity so we can have fun, so we can create new solutions, so we can create beauty...
Movement and meditation.
Related to self-care, these make such a difference in people’s lives. I personally find yoga, wild dancing, breathing exercises, meditation and singing, some of the things that I can do regularly and just help me be here, be present, and also help me process my emotions. We spend our lives running from here to there, walking while thinking about the before, the after, the what if, the maybe. Being present is not easy. I have been trying for years! And I think I am getting better at it but I will always struggle.
A world where people are present in the moment, present in their emotions, kind to their feelings and those of others, a place full of creativity and where we are surrounded by nature. It’s a place of more love, more consciousness, more kindness, more rawness. And it could be the base to the new system we need, one that puts people and our world first, one that is equal, one where we can ALL find happiness. Maybe I am an idealistic, but wouldn’t it be nice?