are you empowered?

what is it to be empowered? what is "power" in this sense?

here's a quote from a class i'm in now:
"power works in intimate ways - what we eat, what we wear, what products we use"

i've really never thought to use the word power in this way. though, from the frame of empowerment, this does make a lot of sense. i guess this discourse of power includes oppression, both self- and institutional (and other forms, i'm sure), and, having power, one becomes free from these forces (partially at least).

A great quote

Imagine this design assignment: design something that makes oxygen, sequesters carbon, fixes nitrogen, distills water, accrues solar energy as fuel, makes complex sugars and food, creates microclimates, changes colors with the seasons, and self-replicates.

Why don't we knock that down and write on it?

-William McDonough (Cradle to Cradle)

i'm tired of feeling like everything here sucks and writing about it, and mulling over it, being stuck in it like a fly in drying caramel. i can't do anything about it. well, not from here, not from this perspective. this has got to stop.

where's the power? where's the potential? why, it is within us! we must set out on a quest to discover it. it is our duty as human beings.

analysis: what is empowerment? what is it to "feel empowered"? what are the effects?

what makes you feel empowered? when are you at your best?