How To Be a Climate Optimist in 2022
+ 10 Things to Reflect on Before The New Year
Hello friends,
Another year for the books! Isn’t it crazy? Does someone else feel like 2020 and 2021 kind of merged into one big year? I know we’ve joked about these two years. I know we’re ready for things to be over. I also know that for some of us, they have brought a lot of suffering and pain.
I lost my grandpa to Covid last February and my husband and I have been misplaced since March of 2020. It’s been 21 confusing and frustrating months, but they also came with so many profound lessons and opportunities for growth, and I look back now in aw of the spiritual journey they brought me on.
I think it’s important that we reflect on the deeper transformations to recognize the hidden blessings in uncertain and difficult times. If we do, we get to celebrate our strength, and build up courage for more to come!
So before we enter 2022 (which I feel in my bones is going to be an exciting one!), I invite you to reflect on what this past year has brought for you. (And feel free to throw in 2020 in the mix if you want to as well!) What lessons presented themselves to you? What challenges did you overcome? What did you learn about yourself and others that made you look at things differently today?
Scroll down for a list of ten thoughts to mull overbefore the year is over.
10 Weeks of Climate Optimism
Starting this Sunday, on January 2nd, I will be sending out one climate optimism challenge per week. This is a collaboration we’re doing with our friends at Rêve En Vert to set the tone for the new year. Each week, we’ll dive deeper into what it means to be a grounded, empowered, and optimistic climate leader (for yourself and the world) with exercises to practice what we learn!
So…. are you ready to empower yourself and become a vessel for positive change?
Good! As long as you’re subscribers to The Climate Optimist Newsletter, you’ll receive this challenge in your inbox (FOR FREE) every Sunday! ☀️
New Years Contemplation
Here are some things to think about before heading into the new year. Bring these thoughts with you on a walk, or journal about them for extra clarity (writing things down can do magic). And if you feel like it, why not bring them to the New Year’s Eve dinner table for interesting conversations?
10 Reflections of 2020 + 2021
What was the most challenging thing/ moment/ phase I went through this past year?
How did I feel on the other side? What lessons were learned?
How did I look at the world differently this year? Was there a moment or incident where my worldview shifted?
What is something I learned about myself this year?
What is something I learned about others? (A partner, parent, friend, society at large)
If I compare myself to who I was this time last year, what has changed? What qualities have I gained or strengthened this past year that’s made me stronger, happier, more empathic, wiser?
What highlights happened in 2021 that I want to anchor in my memory? (Sink into that gratitude.)
How good was I at setting boundaries in 2021? Can I be better at choosing myself in the new year?
Who do I want to identify as in 2022? What are three (or choose as many as you want) characteristics that I want to define me?
How do I wish to grow further in 2022?
Thoughts on the gram this week:
We’re allowed to be different things! We’re allowed to be hopeful, worried, excited, and scared shitless at the same time. We’re allowed to worry about the future and be optimists at the same time. We’re allowed to have answers while asking questions, be doubtful while taking action, and have those days when we don’t know if any of it matters at all.
But then you must recognize that you carry a light inside you that you can choose to turn the switch for at any time. For by lighting your own light, you allow for others to also light theirs, with a ripple effect you can’t even imagine! ✨
Sometimes, in some particularly gloomy places, finding that switch takes a lot of fumbling in the dark. But find it. Keep looking and make it your mission to make sure that no matter what, there will be light again, and you won’t stop until you find it!— Anne Therese
Learning how to deal with negative news is that one thing they don’t teach you in school but they should.
Not just so that we can consume more of it, but so that we can remain strong and resilient through these oceans of information. Jack Adam Weber, author of Climate Cure: Heal Yourself to Heal the Planet, calls it raising our fear-mark.
Here are five tips on how to deal with negative climate news and grow your emotional resilience!
How To Be a Climate Optimist in 2022
The sign says it all. Denial is not a policy. The next step can be to become honest with ourselves about still being in denial. Denying our denial isn't a policy either. :-)