The Ocean in a Drop – Review
The Ocean in a Drop: Navigating from Crisis to Consciousness, by Rosalind Savage. Flint, Nov 2022. 320 pages, ISBN-10 0750999691. RRP: £18.99
When I first encountered this book and learned that the author had rowed alone across the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, I was expecting reflections on that journey, and you do get a few. Predominantly though, Rosalind Savage has clearly done some deep thinking in all that time alone; the journey she takes us on is from an understanding of the climate crisis we all face, to suggestions of a change in consciousness of our place in the world, that would benefit both us and the planet.
Reflecting on the systems that are in place she comments pithily on the economic system, those it benefits and those it doesn’t; the environment and the lack of promises being fulfilled to those smaller countries being seriously affected by climate change already such that their way of life is affected by rising seas. She also reflects well on power and the way humanity behaves. Our unfortunate propensity for violence, the tendency for dominance, particularly of women by men drawing on the Genesis creation myth. Science and religion both come in for comment, and there is a good review of psychological responses that is informative and clear.
Warning the reader that the information gets worse, Rosalind explores a number of other writers who have sought to explain the human condition and the current crisis. I found some of these hard to follow and know there are sections I would benefit from reading again. However, she also has a solution to offer. We are invited to think from the perspective of 2197 and consider some alternative ideas for ways to live, and ways to perceive ourselves. I liked her insight into changing our perspectives: looking at oceans from the land, where the sea separates us, to looking from the perspective of rowing on it, where the sea connects you to all the land masses. It is that change of perspective she invites the reader to consider in a wide and surprising range of ideas, linking science and spirituality, viewpoints that should never have been in opposition.
I recommend you read this for yourself, it is informative, thought provoking and potentially life changing.
Chris Polhill
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