Small Steps With Hope

 In the last few weeks I read a book called T he Good War: Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency  by Seth Klein.  (It's in the South Central Library system, check it out!) Klein tells me, and I believe him, that strong and decisive action is needed from Canada's federal government to mobilize our country for the climate emergency.  I was feeling a great deal of concern about this, feeling like now that I'd read this book I would need to make sure that the Federal government was aware of it's important job.  And then I started worrying that it might be difficult for me to get the PM's ear to tell him all the stuff I learned from Seth Klein. Funny thing, how quickly I feel responsible for everything and also how suddenly I feel completely alone in the task!  Does this happen to you?  Overwhelm and feeling alone totally go hand-in-hand.   Anyway, I listened to a podcast today that made me feel a lot better.  If you are an avid news f...

Last week I found myself overwhelmed. Again .  Since beginning to write about Small Steps a month ago, I had zoomed out in learning to try to catch a glimpse of the big picture around the Climate Emergency. That was good work and probably necessary. However, as I wrapped up my reading of The Good War by Seth Klein and browsed the internet for hours and hours looking for organizations doing advocacy for climate justice, I began to feel very very small. I think I've already learned that feeling small is a good and realistic thing, but in the moment it felt incredibly frustrating and then when my back was turned that old feeling of paralysis and overwhelm loomed again. Thank goodness for Barrette, who while I lamented this during our evening conversation gently reminded me that I've already done my Venn Diagram.   (Do check out the podcast " How to Save a Planet: Is your carbon footprint BS? ") I have made my circles and identified my work.  And that doesn't ...

100 years ago when I was in university there was a letter-writing party for Amnesty International .  I heard about it happening on campus and thought about going, but in the end I didn't attend.  I didn't write those letters regarding political prisoners and refugees stuck in dangerous places and human rights abuses.  I was busy growing up and thinking about me.  And probably exams, boys and other things.  I'm not going to be too hard on myself here, but as I think back, I wish I had written.  I wish I'd begun to learn about advocacy back when I was 19, rather than starting to think about it now, in my 40's.   But here I am! Taking a deep breath and thinking it's time to learn how to speak for the trees (that's a Lorax reference, in case you're wondering.) There are a few reasons why this has come to the fore for me, but the biggest one is the realisation that although it's important for me to clean up my personal act around climate, it's equal...

This morning I woke up to read the daily note I get from the Center for Action and Contemplation and was very moved by the note I found. It was called Grieving the Trees and I don't know if I can say much more about it. Please click through if you're interested. If you don't have time to click,  here's a snip from the middle. It's a prayer by Rev. Dr. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas, shared by CAC. May my prayers echo this song of grief and protest and determination. "I’ve taken to praying outdoors. I go outside, feel the good earth beneath my feet and the wind on my face, and I sing to the trees—to oak and beech, hemlock and pines. Making up the words and music as I go along, I sing my grief to the trees that are going down, and my grief for so much more—for what we have lost and are losing, and for what we are likely to lose. I sing my outrage about these beautiful old trees being cut to the roots, their bodies chipped to bits and hauled away to sell. I sing my f...

That episode of  How to Save a Planet - Is your Carbon Footprint BS ? has gotten me thinking.  This is gonna be a spoiler if you didn't already listen to it, but that's okay. It's worth it! If you did listen and haven't done the exercise yet, here's an invitation to go for it! There's a suggestion at the end of the podcast for how we can figure out how to find our best lever in the fight against climate change.  The good news is that your lever and my lever might not be the same.  So here's my explanation of the exercise, without the Venn Diagram (because I don't know how to add a graphic to this blog!) 1. What are your gifts and skills? 2. What types of activities/actions bring you joy? 3. What do you see needing to get done in terms of climate change? * 4. Analyse your lists and find the places where these things intersect.  It might be worth sharing your lists with a close friend to help you see what actions might grow out of the discussion! * I get a...

 A few weeks ago I came across this amazing organization called  For the Love of Creation .  This is an inter-faith project that aims to empower faith groups to take action on Climate Change in meaningful ways.  They've got some online events planned for next week (Earth Week) and I thought I'd link here to their listing, in case you're interested in any of these.   This event is the one I'm most interested in.  I have inside information that they will be using Venn Diagrams to help participants discern their climate action direction.   Want to join me?   Earth Day Celebration April 22, 2021  @  1:00 pm  –  2:00 pm  EDT Join us on Earth Day to celebrate the 1st anniversary of For the Love of Creation and discern our gifts for climate action in community. In preparation, please take a moment to reflect on your place in Creation. Step outside and take a photograph of your hands or feet on the Earth (toes...

Tomorrow I'll attend a meeting after which I will have made a personal pledge to reduce my Greenhouse Gas Emissions.  Yikes!  I'm still not sure what my pledge will be, but here's something I came across when I was looking for ideas. (LIKE I NEED MORE IDEAS) It's an infographic called  Personal Choices to Reduce Your Contribution to Climate Change .  It rates a bunch of personal actions by order of impact (High, Medium, Low.)  Take a look, if you're interested.  If you're wondering what kind of meeting I'll be attending, check out For the Love of Creation and follow the links to their Faith In Action campaign.  I'll let you know how it goes! Good stuff. Small steps.  

I'm pretty new to the world of podcast listening, but I've started listening to How To Save a Planet . The hosts are hopeful and creative and curious and also very serious about building human capacity for change in the face of the climate crisis.     This episode  How To Save a Planet: Is Your Carbon Footprint BS?   debates what is the most effective climate action: individual actions or systemic change?  The episode really connected with some of the questions I've been wrestling with lately - particularly about how to find the climate work that is mine to do.  In the end of the episode they give a very specific strategy to help people like me (and you, perhaps) to figure out how to get moving on your own small (or large) steps. I won't write more about it here until you've had a chance to listen - but I am curious what will stand out to you from this podcast. Take a listen and comment below or tell someone else about it!  Let's get talking abo...

Usually when people join forces there's a specific goal that they all share.  I've been thinking about this in terms of how I approach Climate Change and the Climate Emergency. What actually is  our goal?  Is it to: Save the Earth?  Mitigate the worst effects of Climate change? Reduce our personal footprint? Prepare to meet the humanitarian crises brought on by climate change? Lobby governments and big business? Support protesters in specific locations?  There is such a huge range of work to be done.  Like any huge project, we need people working on many different levels and at many different tasks. This brings me back to the idea of honouring and empowering every individual to use their passions, gifts and skills. Each of us can and must apply ourselves in the way that we are moved to do so.  I need to find a way to lift my own wings to the wind - a way to use my gifts and passions to uplift the cause. None of us can do it all.  Let us commit to ...

After the Climate Walk in 2019, I became discouraged and overwhelmed.  Every day I'd hear voices in my head telling me I was not committed enough, not radical enough, not ascetic enough to be a real climate warrior.  It felt safer to just keep my head down and do nothing than to face the realities of my inadequacy.  Anytime I read about the Climate Emergency or saw stories in the news about fires, floods, hurricanes, or any other anomalous weather, I felt sick in the pit of my stomach.  I felt completely overwhelmed.  After a few months of this, I found myself walking in the woods trying to clear my head and I had a striking mental image;  myself, tiny and fragile, my arms over my head as if to hold back a looming tsunami wave,  taller than a skyscraper.  I stopped walking and shook my head.   Here I was, trying to imagine a way to stop that whole huge wave with the strength of my two hands and my will.  Of course I was feeling para...

So I've used my new homemade laundry detergent for a week and a half and I'm pretty happy with it!   (See March 24, A Small Step)  It's basically unscented and it's getting our clothes clean.  If anyone wants to try this stuff, I'd like to pass it out for testing!   Why did I spend my time making detergent?  Here are a few thoughts: 1. It's way cheaper than buying detergent.  My frugality likes this a lot! 2. It saves a plastic jug from hitting the recycling bin.  I'm learning that not all plastics can be recycled and so I don't feel as comfortable with my overflowing recycling bins as I did up until recently.  And I'm serious - there is so much plastic in our bin!   3. The last but most important thing is that each time I use it or talk about it, I re-connect with the desire in me to work for change in how we treat the planet.  And maybe that kind of thing can help keep me focused on the work of change.  So two quest...