Optimism is so important. I believe in being realistic, which can mean facing hard realities. But without a stubborn belief that we can improve things, we won't do anything and then we are guaranteed that nothing will change.
+100 to that! I'm always reminded of the fact that every 0.1C of warming that we prevent is hugely significant in terms of impact. That also motivates me to keep pushing for every small change we can get under our belts, as soon as possible.
Feeling overwhelmed by the immensity of interlinked challenges we face, I recently returned to the work of Joanna Macey. She was a veteran empowerment worker who's been involved in a multitude of movements. A revised version of her book Active Hope was released last year - while it won't gel with everyone there are abundant practical and philosophical insighs to draw on. https://www.activehope.info/
I read Active Hope last year and it was so helpful for me. I especially liked her idea of taking a long time view of change. It really got me thinking about how much humans have undergone mass behavioural change in a very short space of time (e.g. Internet, smartphones, even chatGPT in the space of weeks - which is another can of worms). We're definitely capable of systemic change in a short timeframe!
Interesting that there has been a revised edition released so recently! I'll have to check it out, thank you for the info.
I fear we're flipping from the frying pan into the fire. It's hard to keep up, but when something new comes along I have to ask who benefits, who controls this and who decides (to paraphrase Shosaana Zuboff).
Thanks again for the wonderful mahi you do, I look forward to it every week
Thanks Peter, we really appreciate your support - it helps remind us that we're part of a bigger community in this!
Optimism is so important. I believe in being realistic, which can mean facing hard realities. But without a stubborn belief that we can improve things, we won't do anything and then we are guaranteed that nothing will change.
+100 to that! I'm always reminded of the fact that every 0.1C of warming that we prevent is hugely significant in terms of impact. That also motivates me to keep pushing for every small change we can get under our belts, as soon as possible.
Thank you for your mahi. It brings me hope that people like you are here sharing and supporting us to do better.
I’ve definitely become more proactive since signing up to your substack - though I still have a long way to go.
Oh wow, so nice to hear that you've become more proactive since signing up, Sarah! Thank you for your support and kind words 😊
Kia ora Jenny, We have been feeling the doom too lately. Thanks for the new perspective. Kua whakapau kaha koe ki te mahi tino pai.
Ngā mihi mahana, so appreciative of your feedback. Thank you also for all your mahi in the climate space!
Feeling overwhelmed by the immensity of interlinked challenges we face, I recently returned to the work of Joanna Macey. She was a veteran empowerment worker who's been involved in a multitude of movements. A revised version of her book Active Hope was released last year - while it won't gel with everyone there are abundant practical and philosophical insighs to draw on. https://www.activehope.info/
I read Active Hope last year and it was so helpful for me. I especially liked her idea of taking a long time view of change. It really got me thinking about how much humans have undergone mass behavioural change in a very short space of time (e.g. Internet, smartphones, even chatGPT in the space of weeks - which is another can of worms). We're definitely capable of systemic change in a short timeframe!
Interesting that there has been a revised edition released so recently! I'll have to check it out, thank you for the info.
I fear we're flipping from the frying pan into the fire. It's hard to keep up, but when something new comes along I have to ask who benefits, who controls this and who decides (to paraphrase Shosaana Zuboff).
+1 on that, I'm certainly pretty skeptical of any product or solution that isn't explicitly designed with data ethics in mind!
I challenge you -- what purpose does your optimism serve? Does your effortful optimism actually improve circumstances?
https://thespouter.substack.com/p/why-it-doesnt-matter-if-you-give