22 February 2011 Why do we do what we do?

Why do we do what we do?

What I take away from today is the question of what drives people to do the things they do with their lives. Today represented a string of individuals with unique talents, skills and careers. The day started with a presentation from Zeb, the PolarTREC tech god and Ronnie, the PolarTREC web guru. I am intrigued by their passion for what they do with technology and grateful for their absolute willingness to share their knowledge and teach us what they can. The two of them have such a rich knowledge base that can only come from years of hard work to master.

After lunch we went to the University of Alaska Museum. This is a really nice little museum with exhibits about Artic natural history, Native cultures and art. The exhibit that had the biggest impression on me was the "Place to Listen" where various Earth system processes have been turned into a sound collage/composition. Aurora activity, Earthquakes, and other factors are turned into sounds that are continually changing, natural and connected deeply to the Earth. This was the most dramatic of several artistic creations. I spent time thinking about various art and what drives people to create art out of different media.

Next we went to the University of Alaska reindeer facility. There we were given a tour by George who runs the program there. They have over 70 reindeer that they are raising in an effort to explore ways that reindeer could be raised for meat production. They also work with native reindeer herders to help that become more sustainable. George is from California, and his love of animals and his background on a livestock farm have helped him be successful in this career. Here is a person doing something so foreign to me – I cannot imagine being a livestock farmer - but his passion for his work was so clear. Perhaps it sounds obvious, but how interesting it is that we all choose such different paths in life!

Upon our return to the hotel a group of us went to see this little shop down the street. The owner is an artist who creates all sorts of things out of bones and other found objects. We were given the "non-tourist" tour of the basement room, in which was the craziest hoard of bones; this included piles of moose bones, whale bones, and even mammoth bones and teeth! The rooms were so packed with these things that it was difficult to walk around. I think it would take him 50 years of work to finally get through all those bones! An obvious question, of course, is why? Why would someone devote their life's energy to carving bones into statuettes or ancient teeth into belt buckles? Clearly there's a deep-seated passion beyond anything I can imagine.

I guess I have to add that something drove John, Suzy and I to go running at around zero degrees this morning. What was it? Dedication... or craziness?