What World Do You Want to Live In?
Embracing 'Active Hope' in order to heal the world.
In recent months, the landscape has been particularly bleak for someone like me working at the intersection of science, the environment, and social justice.
My work, which relies on collaborations with university researchers, science and justice-centered education nonprofits, and schools serving marginalized students, has been directly impacted by truly chilling budgetary cuts and freezes.
Contract renewals have been delayed, collaborative colleagues have been laid off, and the students and families I seek to serve are particularly stressed.
Of course, this is all by design —a design that, unfortunately, is working all too well; however, I, despite all of this, remain hopeful.
Don’t get me wrong, what is happening to the people, programs, and policies I care deeply about is disheartening; however, the need to continue the work I have dedicated my entire professional career to has never felt more urgent.
This urgency is fueled and sustained by a collection of individuals and organizations that, yes, have been sent reeling by blow after blow, but are nonetheless learning how to duck, pivot, and continue to punch back.
They bend but do not break.
They stumble but do not fall.
They march on because the moral arc of justice is long and too necessary not to pursue.
A few weeks ago, I was invited to facilitate a climate literacy workshop for more than two dozen educators at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, NY.
The focus of this workshop at the world-leading, awe-inspiring institution was to provide a foundational understanding of what climate literacy is and, more importantly, guidance and support on how to incorporate its principles into their children’s education programming.
While there are many directions (in particular, doomy and gloomy ones) a workshop on climate literacy can take, I opted to take a more uplifting and inspirational pathway.
Using the book Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re in with Unexpected Reslience & Creative Power by ecophilosopher Joanna Macy and the physcian and coach Dr. Chris Johnstone (New World Library, 2022), as my guide, I crafted a workshop that yes, made space to acknowledge the grim reality of the current climate/education/science landscape (a vital component of the Active Hope framework) but primarily focused on what the educators in attendance could do within their locus of control to infuse climate literacy into their programming.
During the workshop, stories were shared, tears were shed, and by concentrating on what we could do as a group, new ideas for integrating climate literacy into existing programs blossomed like flowers in the gardens around us.
Indeed, focusing on what we can control and do when the larger world around us seems to be spinning out of control (perhaps the core message within Active Hope) provides me with both solace and clarity.
What is the world you want to live in?
It helps me answer and live up to a recent question that my wife,
(a new Substacker, yes, you should subscribe), shared with me that has been particularly helpful in guiding me to make decisions and take action.That question - What is the world you want to live in? - has helped me make decisions for complex problems and provided clear steps that my renowned, “let’s revisit all the permutations in my head another time” choice-making process has often failed to do.
I am so captivated by this question that I encourage you to ask it aloud to yourself the next time you face a problem that makes you spin your wheels without making real progress. Perhaps this question will not only help you confront and overcome the challenges you face (as it did for me) but also enable us as a collective to embody a version of Active Hope that makes us feel like we are healing the world.
Book News
Learning Environment is scheduled for release next month, August 26 - talk about Active Hope! Pre-order your copy here and keep an eye out for an “unboxing” video, as I just received my first finished copy in the mail.
+ For those of you who are subscribed to my Substack, it’s not too late for me to send you an advanced reader copy (digital). Please send me a message if you’re interested in reading and willing to leave an honest review of the book on its launch day.
Mark your calendar for book events in NYC and the DMV. + If you know anyone who might be interested in having me chat with them and their people about hosting an event or appearing on a podcast, please let me know.
Launch Day - 8/26 - Word Up Books, NYC w/Erick Espin - 6:30 - 8:30
8/28 - Bronxlandia (the Bronx, NY) w/former student Sabrina Mujica and Majora Carter (5 - 7)* time estimated
9/19 - The Potter’s House (Washington, D.C.) - 7 pm
9/24 - Wonderland Books (Bethesda, MD) - time TBD
+ more events coming soon!