Too much to process? “I don’t know where to begin,” how many times have you uttered this to yourself? You and I have probably lost count, know that you are not alone! Is it your mind or mine ‘shutting down?’ A collective pause it what our world needs. But an individual pause, to take stock and filter our cluttered minds and lives has never been more urgent.
News cycles and social media for so many people has become a primary source of news as a result of which we’re permanently anxious. So anxious that it is estimated the average person checks a smart phone over 150 times a day! It has a direct impact on memory and learning ability as well.
Climate anxiety, climate change, climate catastrophe are a some of the media chatter we hear or read about every day. It is exhausting, terrifying and most times counter productive to the cause. Like an overflowing To Do list which often sits on your desk. As does my over flowing To do list, because we simply do not know where to begin.
Climate change should be off to a running start with an unfair advantage. But it’s raced off the rails instead because it is aided and abetted by misinformation and an intent to downplay the seriousness of the situation. Governments, businesses, educational institutions are some of the powerful drivers of information suited to their convenience.
We are in perilous situation. If you are a climate change denier, may be we can help you reconsider your position. Can you see climate change? Yes, in the form of floods, ice caps melting and extreme weather conditions. Chances are by now every climate change denier has lived through an extreme event. That event is climate change. Maybe where you live each summer is a little warmer, longer and increases in intensity. Climate change in action is for your real time classroom.
If schools, colleges and universities have been slow or unwilling to educate, the technological age gives you the freedom to go learn on your own. Educators who open your mind to the idea of change, are accepting of change themselves. Those who view their jobs as a 9-5, set holiday routine, are merely doing the work of imparting information. Not building knowledge. Anyone can learn facts and pass tests which is vastly different from internalising knowledge. That is your tool for a successful life, not in monetary terms, but as a active positive contributing member of your community.
Live, is the operative word here, how long can we expect to live while we destroy our home? And what do we want to leave for our children? Would you take a sledge hammer to your home. Begin with smashing holes in the roof so when it rains outdoors- it pours indoors. That is what we’re doing to a planet that is only home our children will inherit.
Leafy Fox 