Act Daily
If you recently watched the Social Dilemma, you may have an enhanced understanding of the frustration many people feel in the world. I understand the digital loops I enter every time I go online. Lately I have been reading every article I can find on climate change and climate action. Google’s newsfeed provides daily. I don’t even have to look. The Climate Crisis has been one of the more tolling stories in my mind all year. If you listened to Episode 48, Birth and Rebirth, you will hear about the recent whip cracking shock felt as my husband and I welcomed our son into the world, 7 weeks early. Three weeks later we brought him home from the Nicu, at the same time millions of acres burned during record shattering wild fires. Wondering what kind of world we had brought this brand new lil soul into, I more so wondered how myself as a capable adult has been so inactive while mitigating the feeling of impending climate doom, daily.
I can’t help but feel uncomfortable thinking about Greta Thunberg and all the young activists battling daily, hoping the “grown ups” will pick up some slack and join them. As a new mother something snapped in me. I can no longer sit on my ass. Gone are the feelings that I am powerless. Gone are the feelings that the climate crisis is too big for lil ole me. Gone are the feelings that we are literally fucked. There is a saying, the light always finds a way. Now I don’t want anyone to get too comfortable. We do need to quantum leap. And if we don’t act with urgency we’ll never get enough momentum to make the huge gains we so desperately need to reverse our carbon emissions and producing technology capable of undoing the damage we’ve already caused.
I don’t know what necessarily snapped in me. I certainly do not have the answers to the climate crisis, but I do have a Podcast! Now a podcast isn’t going to save the world but a Podcast is a great way to spread information. We happen to have a kick ass website also. In the website we are currently building a data base of information to share on carbon footprints and how each of us can make a difference daily. It’s easy to feel like you, the person reading this page, can not make a big enough difference to justify the bother. But ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING! Your attitude, the community attitude, the country and the world’s attitude will all mean the difference in our ability to shift our reality away from the direction of climate devastation. Attitude determines where investment dollars go. Finally, investment banking is starting to crack down and qualify the market based on sustainability and climate risk. You can read an article on what JP Morgan is doing here. Prince Willam, the Royal kingdom and a handful of celebrities have teamed up to reward $65 million dollars in prizes for climate solutions. Attitudes are effected by reward and people who can are stepping up to the plate. Read more here.
Consumer attitudes determine what products are produced, marketed and shelved. Our attitudes are crucial to shift the collective consciousness to a sense of duty owed to the earth and all the creatures we dominate. But of equal importance and much more tangibly, our dollars and where we spend them hold the power to instill change TODAY. The “Man” will notice if you stop spending. It will be discussed in the board room. Adjustments will be made when sales go down. Products are considered based on their ability to sell. And all the small businesses making green, sustainable products and business models will grow and become more affordable when we patron them with the ability to compete. We hold that power with our dollars, our working energy.
As America enters the 2020 election, every choice to vote or not to vote is an exercise of attitude. It contributes to the collective consciousness we share as a divided or a united nation, empowered or defeated. Some of us will have to fight disenfranchisement. Some of us will have to wait in wicked lines under hostile conditions. Around the country ballots are being stolen and even burned. People claim that elections are rigged so what’s the point. We have to fight that too. WE keep going. We battle the cheaters. We speak up and we keep going with the Light on our side. There is a climate denier on the ballot and another who believes in science and is dedicated to bringing us back to the Paris Accord. This election feels like a literal battle for our livelihood. We may not have 4 more years to fuck around before we achieve significant climate action. Every day counts.
Every day is also a gift. The earth doesn’t owe us anything. Life doesn’t owe us anything. Every breath we are given is an act of grace from the universe or whatever higher power you attribute to it. Every day you have the ability to make a difference in your carbon footprint, where your energy goes, the business you empower, the capability of the officials you elect, the decisions of manufacturers and the quality of life you create for yourself and your community. Don’t underestimate yourself. It starts with just one act and one foot at a time. Rock the Vote. Power to the People!
xoxo FJR