A disease which impacts all organs and the system as a total

In all these years of this mess of disease, one thought often past my mind: How often I had thought about different states of existence before, such as in plants and stones and I am amused about myself now how little I have known how they might feel. The state of disease is an ever floating, never ending stream of changes, cramps and collapse, just to build up some humanish body again and then to disappear in this other form of existence. It feels like a being in the water or a cloud in the sky, then anything related to a physical human experience I knew from before. A body in disease changes its texture and consistence. This multisystemic crisis in my own body lets me feel and experience states I’ve read about in papers and books and worked with before – not knowing, how correlated this disease feels in its total system shut down, to an ecosystem collapsing in front of our eyes outside in the world. A disease which changes any relation you have to your own body, and therefore it changes every relation you have to anybody else and the outside world. Perceptions and priorities dismantle in the moment, a crisis arrives. And the only way through is to stand in the middle of the storm once in a while to get some rest in the total chaos around you. Or let’s rather say, to lay in the middle of the storm. And who ever made their way into that small island in the middle, is walking with you on the everyday edge of existence. This is from where we start walking and working now. We are all laying and standing in the storm, since nothing is over, and the world is burning outside differently and similarly at the same time.

DEEP TIME

“Deep Time” is a concept that describes the unimaginable vastness of the geological time frame in which the Earth has developed its history. It refers to the immense spans of time that extend beyond human history, encompassing ages and eras that reach back billions of years. The Earth itself is about 4.54 billion years old. Deep Time puts us in the perspective that many geological and biological processes take place in time frames that far exceed our usual understanding of time. An example of the depth of this time span are the geological layers that have been deposited over millions and billions of years and are visible today in rock formations such as the Grand Canyon. Each layer is like a “chapter” in the history of the earth, telling us about the climatic and biological conditions of the time. This perspective can help us not only to appreciate the Earth and its history, but also to develop a deeper sense of responsibility for the planet and its future.

SAND MINING

Up to 50 billion tonnes of sand and gravel are mined each year to meet the soaring demand from construction and land reclamation – making it the largest extractive industry on the planet. Yet most people have never given it even a passing thought, nor have most decision makers and river managers.
Even if they really should, because not only is the world’s economy built on sand and gravel (or aggregate) but unsustainable sand mining also poses a risk to rivers across the globe – and to the people, economies and nature that depend on them. Global demand for sand and gravel – technically aggregate mining but commonly referred to as sand mining – has increased rapidly over the past two decades, largely driven by growth in the Asia Pacific region, particularly in China but also increasingly in India. China consumed more sand between 2011–2013 than the US did in the whole 20th Century. China alone is estimated to have imported around **4.5 billion tons** of sand in 2019. Most sand and gravel is used for construction (aggregate makes up 80% of concrete and 80% of asphalt) but substantial quantities are also swallowed up by land reclamation. Intent on continuing to expand its land area, Singapore remains the world’s largest importer. The global sand market has an estimated value of approximately **$70 billion** per year. An industrialized country can consume about **30 to 40 tons** of sand per capita annually. Illegal sand mining is a major problem in many parts of the world. It is often carried out by criminal networks, as the profits are enormous and the penalties are relatively low in many countries. Some experts are already warning of a “sand crisis”, as the available deposits are not unlimited and demand is constantly growing. Fine sand in particular, which is necessary for concrete production, is becoming increasingly difficult to find.