Will we shrink or grow?
We're at a climate change crossroad and we have to make a conscious choice in turbulent times: Will we, as individuals and communities, shrink or will we grow?
Hold on, hold on to yourself
For this is gonna hurt like hell
— Sarah McLachlan, Hold On
Crossroads
“Hold on.” The lyrics from Sarah McLachlan’s poignant and emotional song about loss are playing over and over in my head in the aftermath of the U.S. elections. We’re living through a precarious time and we need to hold on to ourselves and each other with courage, integrity, and compassion so that we can take coherent, strategic, and transformative actions for an equitable and sustainable world.
Speaking of sustainability, governments are gathering right now in Azerbaijan for COP29 to discuss policy responses to climate change. Climate negotiations are tough in the best of times, but they have monumental significance this year.
Sigh… I just read that Argentina’s negotiators at the climate summit have been ordered to withdraw from the talks — their president believes that climate change is a ‘socialist lie.’
Hold on! Climate change is not a hoax or a lie, especially for the millions of people who are experiencing the consequences of changes in long terms trends and extreme events. The science of climate change may be complex, but as I wrote in The Quantum Vibe, it is also straightforward:
When carbon dioxide molecules are added to the atmosphere, they vibrate and produce heat. The more we add, the more they vibe. The more they vibe, the hotter it gets on our planet. Vibrations in the atmosphere influence the biosphere, the hydrosphere, the cryosphere (ice cover) and so on. They affect lives and livelihoods, where people can live, and basic needs like food, water, and shelter. Everything.
At a time when everything is at stake, what feels like a divisive moment will be a decisive moment for humanity and nature. McLachlan captures this moment beautifully in ‘Hold on’:
“Am I in Heaven here or am I in hell / At the crossroads I am standing.”
The choice
A crossroads is a point of decision or a critical juncture. It’s a liminal space and time where we can go either way. We can take this path or that one, and we can head in this direction or that one. It’s a choice.
The choices that we have made have led to the catastrophic environmental, social, and political consequences we are experiencing today. Many feel like it’s already game over. But life is not a game; it’s a process that gives us direct feedback and the opportunity to respond. We can always do better.
At critical junctures, it’s important to remember that we have agency, even when we feel ineffective, insignificant, unmotivated, or too paralyzed to move forward. In any crisis, we have to opportunity to make a conscious choice: we can either shrink or we can grow.
Shrinking
Shrinking is easy. When we feel fear, it’s normal to contract, retreat, or hide, hoping for problems to disappear or to be handled by others. There will, after all, be more elections and COP meetings, right? At times like this, it’s tempting to pull the collective covers over our heads and go to sleep. Like many people, I’ve had a strong desire lately to close my eyes and say “wake me up when this nightmare is over.”
When we shrink, we have less space to include other people and other views into our own perspective. Instead, we draw heavier lines between us and others, limiting who is included within our circle of care. These exclusions further add to the fragmentation and polarization of societies.
Yet we have an alternative: we can consciously choose to grow in the face of crisis.
Growing
Growing is not easy and can be painful. It calls for us to expand our social consciousness and increase our capacities to respond with integrity, on behalf of not just a few, but everyone. It is about having the wisdom to take care of ourselves and others, as well as the courage to stand for what is important for the whole - including the greatest diversity of species and ecosystems. Growing includes recognizing that in this entangled world that feels like it’s falling apart, how we show up matters.
One thing I’ve noticed over the years is that when I grow, I create space for others to grow too. When we are open, we have a greater capacity to listen deeply and respond wisely, rather than react recklessly. Similarly, I’ve noticed that when others grow, I also grow. Inspiration makes me feel more spacious and resonant — and moves me to take action.
This past week could have easily been a ‘shrink week.’ Fortunately, I’ve found inspiration in the words and actions of countless people. Jon Stewart reminds me that we have to continue to work day in and day out to create the better world that we know is possible. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez points out in an email that the world we are fighting for is already here, and that “it exists in small spaces, places, and communities.” Much of our work, she argues, is about scaling existing solutions.
Scaling solutions
Count me in! I want to scale transformations to sustainability and contribute to quantum social change. This will not be easy: we have to work strategically to halt destructive practices at a planetary scale, while at the same time contributing to a world where all life can thrive. We need to take a quantum leap.
Last week I had the pleasure of reflecting on what quantum social change looks like in practice in an interview with journalist Matthew Green of Resonant World for the week-long Climate Consciousness Summit. The summit is organized by the Pocket Project, an organization dedicated to healing collective trauma, together with Desmog, a media outlet that works tirelessly to provide climate accountability and serve as an antidote to science denial and disinformation. It’s a timely event. My conversation with Matt at the summit is comes out on Friday, November 15 (it’s available for 48 hours). Below is a one-minute clip — you can count how many times I say “like”! :-)
Climate consciousness
Climate consciousness is about much more than understanding and addressing climate change. It’s also an awareness that our individual and collective actions make a difference, and that we can act strategically — both individually and collectively — to transform systems in an equitable and sustainable manner that benefits all life. Climate consciousness is a valuable superpower in times of political turmoil.
We are at a crossroads and it’s time for us to decide whether we as individuals and communities will shrink or grow to meet the challenges facing us today. If we consciously choose to grow, we need to grow together and work coherently to realize our greatest potential. In a world where actions are increasingly divisive and destructive, our courage, wisdom, and agency really do matter.
“Everything you have in life can be taken from you except one thing,
your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation.”
— Viktor Frankl
This is one of the best pieces I have read about the importance of responding as I try to stave off the temptation of catatonic surrender to the post-24 us election results and the mid Cop -29 dismay.
Karen, thanks for speaking to this moment with exactly the expansive view we need. I not letting it drag me down this time around. Viktor Frankl’s words still move us forward—Navalny’s laughter still echoes out of the prison walls. This is still our time. It may seem dark, but we always hold the light in our hands.