The courage to question everything
The art of dreaming up new worlds
“Climate change is first and foremost a problem of our relationship with the future.”
Alex Steffen, as quoted in The Future Earth by Eric Holthaus
Few statements resonate more with me than this one. For starters, we’re bad at thinking about the future - period! How are we supposed to make smart decisions for generations yet to be born when we can’t even make smart decisions for ourselves?
Secondly, since you're reading this right now, I bet you don't have the best relationship with the future. Am I right? To us, scientists are our fortune-tellers and, well, let’s just say it ain't looking bright…
To change or not to change… that is not the question!
But here’s the caveat - nothing about the future is certain! The only thing we know for certain is that nothing is certain and not to play on words here but isn’t that a fascinating thing? The one thing we can be sure of is that things will… change!
And before you put your drama queen pants on and go “Aaaaaah, but I don’t want things to change!”, let’s get real here. We need change - we know that we do! But how good are we at actively choosing change that we want to happen versus fighting the change that we don’t want? In other words, instead of putting all our focus on avoiding climate change, how can we funnel all our energy to choosing change instead?
The trick here is to see the obvious - that change is inevitable - and to realize that we actually have the power to choose change before the change chooses us.
Am I making sense?
Photo: Emilie Farris
Unimaginable
When I was in my early twenties, I read a quote that changed my life forever. I’ll save my cute “becoming of” story for another time, but I wanted to share this quote with you because I believe it plays an essential part in our fight for a climate-just future.
Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable
- Mary Oliver
Think about that one for a second. How much room is there in your heart for the unimaginable to unfold? How open are you to trusting and accepting a world beyond your wildest imagination? I know it’s hard to believe that we’ll somehow get this right but think back at history and all the incredible things humans have done. Can you not call your mother and see her from across the world in seconds? Not some diluted, blurry, look-alike version of your mom, but a clear, high-quality video of her in real-time! That is quite extraordinary, isn’t it?
When I was eight, my dad worked for one of the biggest Tele companies in Sweden, and I remember one night when he came home and showed us a video of “the future.” People in this video had cars that gave them directions, cello lessons with their teachers via tv screens, and they could feed their dog at home with a simple click of a button. It seemed… WILD!
Needless to say, we know it’s not that wild today. But that was only twenty years ago, and who knows where we’ll be twenty years from now? What kind of realities will we take for granted then that we can barely imagine today?
Stuck between two unimaginable worlds
I believe our inability to get to the right climate action, and essentially where our misunderstanding with the future lies, is caused by the fact that we’re stuck between two unimaginable worlds. First off, we don’t allow ourselves to fully imagine and comprehend the future that we’ll find ourselves in if Climate Change were to choose for us. What does it actually mean to live in the world our scientists predict?
It’s impossible to live sanely with that reality inside your heart, which is also why we’re not getting to the oh-so-needed action. The dissonance is too strong! But we’re also not allowing ourselves to visit the unimaginable future we want to live in. Which is, ultimately, how we’re stuck between two worlds.
How about the future that is so unthinkably beautiful there is no way we can make it up right now, even if we tried? The future where we’ve figured some shit out and where peace, happiness, and clean air fills our beautiful Earth? What will that future look like?
Who knows?! And that’s just the thing - we don’t know! But just because we don’t know doesn’t mean it’s not worth fighting for, and if we can only keep coming back to this truth; that the only thing that’s certain is that nothing is certain, we’re on to something. And if we can ask the right questions, find the courage to let go and try new things, and start to choose change, then who knows how fast this new world will unfold!
Need inspiration? Check out this amazing visualization of what New York City could look like with a little dose of (green) change, created by the amazing Jan Kamensky.
Photo: Danist Soh
Dream a little
My ask for you this week is that you allow yourself to dream a little. Put on some good music, close your eyes, and let yourself drift. What world do you see?
I created this guided meditation that can help you get there! Listen to it during your morning routine or tune into it on your commute to work and see what comes through for you - it might surprise you!
If you get a vision you’d like to share - please sent me a note because I’d love to hear! You can either email it to me privately at annetherese@theclimateoptimist.com or share it here in the comment section below. The more we share our visions for a different kind of world, the easier it’ll be to believe it!
- With love and stubborn optimism, Anne Therese
This week’s affirmation:
To be a climate optimist is to accept and choose change.
The sooner I can make peace with not knowing, the faster this
new world can unfold!
This week’s challenge:
Guided Meditation
Create a moment of quiet for yourself
Close your eyes and allow yourself to visit your version of an “unimaginable future”. You can use this guided meditation if you wish, or simply put some soothing music on in the background
If you feel like it, journal on what you saw. How does this vision make you feel? If you didnt’ see anything, journal on what did come through - a feeling, light, an idea, or a thought?
Practice showing up in your life with this vision in your heart. What choices will you make today to pull this future close?
Please share your visions with me if you want to! You can comment here or send me an email at annetherese@theclimateoptimist.com