I sit here, laptop in lap, breathing into the anxiety that this moment of uncertainty and mild terror at what might be coming all balled into one, trying to hold on to every spark of hope from the last few months. Trying to be grounded in reality and lead from a place of imagination, joy, and optimism. The UNFCCC is not structured in a way that will actually solve the climate crisis. COP29 was by and large a failure. Soon a climate change denier, bent on giving a green light to the billionaire class to continue to pillage and harm, will move back into the White House. Extraction, colonialism and harm continue despite global outcries.
Winter is the season that I spend planning and preparing for spring and the garden. This winter must be our season of planning and preparing, because, as Timothy Snyder says in his pamphlet On Tyranny, we must not obey in advance. And, as I learned from a group of Hamline students this fall, it is not enough to simply oppose something. In our planning and preparing we must consider what we are for.
So, be prepared for severe weather or anything else that we might face. Pack a go bag. Make sure all of your important documents are in a safe, dry and secure place. Use encrypted communication channels. Make sure all your loved ones know where you will reconnect.
And then let us turn to imagining and building the world we wish to see, because that is the most profound act of resistance we could engage in. What is our collective vision of how we might reorganize our lives to be in right relationship with each other and the land? How could we reorganize our economy around the needs of many and away from consumerism? What does it look like? Sound like? Smell like? Taste like? Let’s get clear about what we are working toward. And then let us step into that in all the ways that we are able, no matter how small or insignificant it might seem.
As Fred Hampton once said,
“We’re gonna have to do more than talk, We’re gonna have to do more than listen. We’re gonna have to do more than learn. We’re going to have to start practicing, and that’s very hard.”
Join us at Climate Generation, we are ready to practice.
Susan Phillips
Executive Director
Photo: Martin Ruegner/Getty Images
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