COVID, CLIMATE & COMPASSION
January 2, 2021We need to focus and fix all three.
From Eric Holthaus:
Original art for The Phoenix is by Laila Arêde.
Our time here on this beautiful planet is so temporary.
If there’s anything that 2020 taught us, it’s that while time is fleeting for everyone,
it’s the way society is structured
that determines how fleeting it is, and for whom. The overlapping tragedies of Covid-19, police brutality, and the climate emergency don’t fall equally on everyone, and
it’s up to us to change that system
to ensure everyone here gets the chance to thrive that they deserve.
That’s the heart of climate justice.
Our window for revolutionary repair of our planet’s atmosphere and biosphere – caused by centuries of excesses brought by capitalism, patriarchy, misogyny, imperialism, and racism – is bound by physics. We can (and should!) argue about the best ways to get to a zero-carbon world as quickly as possible, but we can’t argue with the fact that current global policies will deliver a planet that’s incompatible with a safe future for billions of people who did the least to cause the climate emergency.
This is what we’re fighting for: Indigenous sovereignty, regenerative care of the land, shelter, equity, joy. All the basics that people need to live a good life. A vision for a bread and roses future for everyone.
Getting started with that journey isn’t hard.
The point is only that you show up.
We need everyone to be a part of this transformation in their own way.
At the same time, becoming a Climate Person isn’t easy. But it’s some of the most important work in the history of the world. You don’t get to give up, but you do get to ask for help.
If living your best life includes making the world more life-sustaining for every creature we share this beautiful planet with, the rest of this post will help you get started.
Meteorologist and climate journalist Eric Holthaus describes himself as “a meteorologist who strives to foster understanding of humanity’s connection to the atmosphere.” Here he delivers a monologue on climate change and his mission to remind everyone that we are all in this fight together. Eric wants to change the narrative of climate change from being “one of inevitable disaster to one of possibility.”
Author Allysha Lavino and a thought for 2021:
And what do we want to bring with us?
Courage?
Wisdom?
Tenacity?
This is the year we feather our nests – it’s time to take care of ourSelves, our families, our communities, and our environments.
❀
2030
Betting on the future.
From Seth Godin:
“I just installed new smoke detectors in the house (definitely worth the hassle and low expense) and the batteries now last ten years.
There’s a little spot on the side of the detector to write the year you installed it.
I’m wondering what the person (maybe me) who changes the batteries a decade from now will think when they see “2020” written on the side.
Whatever happens over the next ten years, if history is any guide at all, the year we just finished will be mostly a faded memory.
What will matter more than what just happened is what we decide to do with where we are, daily, persistently, generously, for the next 3,650 days.
Here’s to possibility, to justice, and to betting on the future.”
2021
The main theme for January is “Start Up”.
Power Path.
“We are in a new time, a new landscape, a new sun (according to Toltec wisdom), a new vibration and frequency, and completely new potential and opportunity for a whole new experience of life. This month we look at new containers, new support systems, new attitudes and beliefs, and new ways we can create a start-up for ourselves
A “start-up” is different than a re-start as it implies something brand new rather than re-starting something that is already existing. Instead of replacing just the battery in an old car and restarting it, we are actually in the market to buy a new car, an upgrade for the old one that no longer serves us well. We are stretching ourselves to be able to have this upgrade, to feel worthy of it and to trust that the resources will be there to support it.
The start-up this month is not unlike this analogy. We are in a completely different time with different energy and the potential for completely shifting everything. We need to release the old structures we have been re-starting over and over and allow ourselves to go to the next level and bring in something new and improved. This is scary and exciting at the same time. A start-up comes from a new idea, needs a new container and a new support system. It requires a new brand, new organization and a new set of intentions. And it requires a deep inner trust as you take the risk into something new. Even if you keep the details of your life much the same, it is important to infuse your daily routines with a change that allows for something different.
The most significant start-up will come from within. As we have entered into an artisan time of huge creativity, it will come with some chaos, a necessary side product of dissolving old structures. Sometimes you have to turn old things upside down to see your way through them to something new. This new sense of self and of how you perceive the world need to be seeded from the inside. We are shedding the skins of old personal and societal imprints, and stretching our wings in freedom to make choices from within about who we are, what we want, and whom we want to be with.
If you were to create a business start-up, you would first come up with a new idea. Then you would build a container around this idea and bring in the necessary support, your team of allies and experts to help you create the foundation and structure of your start up. The energy this month is not dissimilar to a business start-up except the start-up is related to your own life and your personal expression of it. The conscious co-creation of this start-up requires a balance between allowing inspiration, clarity and support to come to you, and proactively creating what you are clear about and wish to manifest. How do you build a good container for your start up? You make sure that you bring in all the elements that will support you in the best way possible.
The key to all of this is that the creativity comes from within, the inspiration comes from within, the desire comes from within, the clarity comes from within, and the intuition that you are on the right track comes from within. This is not to say that you cannot have confirmation from the outside. You will receive plenty of signs when you are on the right track. Pay attention to them and trust.
Adventure is one of the primary needs for this year and a supportive energy for taking any kind of a risk. Your personal start-up may feel like a risk. Look at it as an adventure as you navigate this new landscape. Even if you experience road blocks along the way, know that any change comes with a bit of chaos and destruction. If an old structure is dissolving, don’t resist its demise. Know that there is a new creation wanting to burst forth from the vacuum.
Full personal forecast at: thepowerpath.com
January 28: Full Moon in Leo is Thursday, January 28 at 12:18 PM Mountain Standard Time. (MST)… “Wolf Moon.”
