Deep dive and straight talk on the issue of our climate crisis from the Earth Institute.
And the complex paradox of refusing to give up hope, while highly engaging in truth.
Today I was listening and watching on Zoom, Andrew Revkin, Columbia University's Earth Institute interviewing Alex Steffen, noted Climate Futurist. Growing up in the 70's, I never thought in 2020 we'd be here having these conversations, because many of the answers were there. But not the critical actions needed.
After my Climate Reality Leadership (Al Gore) and KissTheGround Training recently, I got the dose of reality I needed on how bad things are and will be if we all don't wake up.
Since I work a lot with youth and have watched the gaming world explode around them today's exchange between Alex and Andrew on Zoom reminded me of two things: gaming requires the need to provide players with a fun challenge while not discouraging them too much. How does that balance work? My thoughts are that many of the best games out there make you want to stop trying, but through perseverance, you can pull through in the end. For that, you need that little bit of hope to keep going.
I'm sharing the exchange with Alex and Andrew on the link below. So much of what Alex is saying is spot on. We've ignored lessons learned from the past 50 years and are dug in politically. I work internationally and I hear constantly how people in other countries view our over consumption and disregard for the very living, breathing Planet Earth that sustains us.
So, I 'm not living in a bubble of hope. My hope comes from the values I learned from my Cherokee / Scottish dad, values of earth honoring at all costs. Learn to hunt, to fish, to garden and can food. And, don't waste anything. Donate your time to St. Vincent DePaul Society or to anyone who needs help. Love thy neighbor. You know. You've heard this before. The truth is, if we can love more vastly, we will care deeper for all living things.
It's obvious that we the people as a whole are not responsive to devastation for very long. Examples of fierce hurricanes, fires, 5 feet of hail falling at one time, people being displaced (30 million globally last year alone) and having approximately 60 planting seasons left as calculated by farmers and lead scientists all breaks our hearts. But what will happen as climate change get even worse? Insurance companies are all ready pulling back on insuring risky areas. As risk grows, we the people are even more deeply impacted from our wallets. By the time we wake up, it might just be too late.
So by now you are probably asking yourself, "so Jeannette, where's the hope?" For me, the hope is in the youth of the world. The Sunrise Movement in the USA is filled with young people engaged in political activism, the move towards Impact Investing for ecology where hundreds of stories of new technologies and systems by humans and science are solving problems. We can now even personally track our carbon footprint or choose to use a search engine that also plants trees. (Ecosia.org)
And, I'd be remiss if I didn't say how proud we are of our CanUDIGIT.earth Challenge series designed to invite people to have fun, look around and appreciate nature, plant something, grow something, become food secure and reconnect with growing food cultures and nature on a massive scale. And share your personal stories in video, photos and audio to inspire others. Did I mention it's free?
I find hope where it is: In people. In the earth honoring indigenous communities who have been telling us since the beginning not to allow ourselves to separate from our Mother Earth. It's about taking a stand for care of this very life-force that sustains us all.
We need to ask ourselves some very difficult questions: What price are we willing to pay? What are we willing to give up to preserve humanity?
Your answer could just be the dose of hope we need!
https://www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6797341536389496832/
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