17 Nov Making Sense of This Moment
From the Desk of Kathleen
I know we are all trying to make sense of this moment, hoping that if we get some clarity, it will reveal what steps to take next. This is a very frightening time in history. There are so many fears: fear the economy is leaving you behind, fear of not being able to buy groceries for you and your children, fear of losing identity and self-worth, fear of AI, fear of deadly viruses emerging from the jungle, fear of droughts, fire, floods, storms. Even people who declare climate change as normal are likely deeply afraid.
If we witness this fear in ourselves and our neighbors, our empathy rises, and we can accept our differences and extend our hand. Perhaps together we can have conversations about the many existential crises facing us and find ways to make things better. Action is the antidote to both fear and despair.
When FreeportCAN’s Steering Committee met just after the election we all agreed that our work is even more critical now that Federal support for greenhouse gas emission reductions will likely be removed. Community, interconnection, and care are all crucial values which must undergird our work. In the year ahead, we will continue our efforts to bring people together to make sense of this moment when we are all afraid, to find ways to support each other in taking actions at the state and local level instead of resorting to paralysis or avoidance.
Last Wednesday at FreeportSpeech, Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, bestselling author of What If We Get It Right, (and, lucky for us, resident of Freeport!) ended her joyful, funny and deeply moving presentation with this advice about moving forward at this time. I pass on to all of you as a guiding star for your thoughts about what to do next:
Keep showing up. Join something.
Find your people.
Bring your superpowers.
Be a problem solver. Choose your battles.
Nourish joy. Love nature.