CHAPTER 15: Ground Truth: Investigations of Earth Simultaneously Spiritual and Scientific

Among my favorite cartoons is one my mom gave me by cartoonist and author of The Soul Support Book, Deb Koffman (2003). Entitled “Sitting with Awareness,” in each of sixteen small square frames Koffman depicts a person sitting in lotus position wearing, what we call in my house “at-homes,” in other words sweatpants. Phrases beneath each frame taken together constitute the following poem:

I relate to this poem. For, as I pursue my work as a geoscientist-educator at a liberal arts college, reading, teaching, and striving at the intersections of earth science, gender studies, environmental studies, and history of science, I often wonder, “Am I doing this right?”