Not every story about climate change is a complete bummer. People are learning to be creative and resilient, finding new solutions to minimize the harm from climate disruption. This page calls attention to those stories, helping us remember to engage in what Joanna Macy calls “Active Hope.”
“Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously headed for early success, but, rather, an ability to work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed.”
Václav Havel
- Promoting Well-Being and Community Through Action for Happiness
Finding Hope and Connection Through Climate Action Connecting Through Gratitude As someone passionate about supporting both individual well-being and collective resilience in the face of climate change, I’m always looking for organizations promoting positive change. One group doing excellent work is Action for Happiness, a global movement focused… Read more: Promoting Well-Being and Community Through Action for Happiness - Crafting My Way Into ResilienceI’ve been a victim advocate now for over twenty years. In doing this hard work, it’s been deeply important for me to find ways to metabolize the trauma I take in. Yoga and meditation are part of that for me. Another important resilience tool that has also been a wildly effective way for me to feel purpose and release is crafting. So much of victim advocacy is heavy and ongoing. I don’t feel a lot of completion/resolve – there are constant, open loops, even in great progress. Crafting brings such peace as it is tangible. I can see the impact, and it has a clear and distinct end. Completing projects is uniquely fulfilling because so little in the rest of my world comes with a tidy bow.
- Gardening for Wildlife–Creating a Sense of PlaceAs the world has started to recognize the importance of using plants that have evolved with the insects and animals of a region, Deep Roots has stepped up with its latest offering to assist landowners. Through their new “Nature Advisors” program, a team of two will help you evaluate your property by identifying invasive species, looking at rainwater management opportunities, and increasing options for wildlife habitat through plantings.
- All the Baby Trees by Vivian FaulknerLast year, as I was walking the paths, it occurred to me that these trees were in trouble. Unless the collars were removed, the trees that were now established would start growing through the mesh which would harm them in the long-term… I stated that the trees needed someone who cared about them to do this task and that I was not going to give up.
- The Waggle NewsletterThe Waggle newsletter points the way toward viable climate solutions each week.
- A New Year to Live the Question in Your Heart (With Poetic Abundance)Rainier Maria Rilke is one of my favorite poets. He writes in “Letters to a Young Poet” : I would like to beg you dear Sir, as well as I can, to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves… Read more: A New Year to Live the Question in Your Heart (With Poetic Abundance)
- From Lawn to Wildlife Habitat: Conservation Starts in Your Own BackyardI’m hooked. I want to garden for wildlife by planting native plants, and here’s why: I’ve been gardening with natives off and on for the past thirty years, feeling it’s the right thing to do but without a bedrock reason. Doug Tallamy, author of Nature’s Best Hope, has… Read more: From Lawn to Wildlife Habitat: Conservation Starts in Your Own Backyard
- A Nurturing Lesson from the HummingbirdsThere is something incredibly special about spotting a hummingbird. A fleeting moment when one pauses at a flower in your garden, zooms by your window as you enjoy your morning coffee, or takes advantage of the sugary treat in the feeder. The iridescent greens and purples with a… Read more: A Nurturing Lesson from the Hummingbirds
- Why I Started Upcycle Philippines“Upcycle Philippines” is a name given to the beloved advocacy project I founded that spearheaded the movement on environment conservation through the system of upcycling by fostering awareness of the circular economy. How did it all begin? It started when I cleaned my house and decluttered stuff. I… Read more: Why I Started Upcycle Philippines
- The Delight in Cultivating Joy and BeautyAs I was finishing up my last blog post on Cultivating Play and Rest, Brené Brown dropped another and very timely podcast with Karen Walrond, author of the Lightmaker’s Manifesto. Joy or Guilt? Guilt or Joy? Brené has been struggling with guilt over feeling joy in her life… Read more: The Delight in Cultivating Joy and Beauty
- “I must return the gift”My inspiration When I first read Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teaching of Plants, I felt I had been handed down a roadmap of tools, stories, and lessons that had been absent in my upbringing. Through both science and story, studies and myths, Robin Wall… Read more: “I must return the gift”
- On Accepting MyselfI have been meditating on the poem “Wild Geese” for many months now after listening to a rebroadcast of an On Being Podcast from 2015 where Krista Tippet interviews the poet, Mary Oliver. It was a powerful and uplifting interview. I have loved Mary Oliver’s poems for a… Read more: On Accepting Myself
