Finding the Courage to Choose Change
These are excerpts from Chapter 2 in The Climate Optimist Handbook.
Chapter 2: Choosing Change
One Friday night in May, I found myself in one of the most lavish apartments I’ve ever been in. It was one of those places with windows from floor to ceiling and big, heavy curtains caressing their frames. A huge wooden table was centered in the middle of the room, and in every corner, there was either a sculpture or an impressive painting. If you walked up to the window, you looked right out at the cobbled streets of lower Manhattan.
How I ended up at an intimate dinner party in Tribeca with a group of documentary producers, I didn’t know, but it wasn’t the first time my path had brought me to some cool places. Sometimes life throws you interesting curveballs, and I’ve swung at enough of them to know how to sip cocktails with magic when it chooses to appear. You simply don’t know what will come from saying “yes” to an invitation, so when asked if I was in New York and interested in joining a group of climate nerds for dinner, I decided to accept.
“How do you think your perspective as a Swede differs from that of most Americans when it comes to dealing with the climate crisis?” I was asked.
I had just made the comment, “Of course, the movie would have a happy ending—it’s an American movie after all,” while we were bouncing around ideas for a blockbuster movie based on real-time and all-too-true climate facts. When the “happy ending” emerged, I had to say it—Americans!
Everyone laughed, and the joke spun on how the film would end if it were made in a country like Sweden. Would we all eventually die? And would that be the more realistic ending to the movie called Climate Change? (Note, this conversation took place before Don’t Look Up reached theaters.)
With all six pairs of eyes now looking at me over the candlelit table, I sobered up from my joke. I wanted to give them a sincere and thought-through answer, so I did a deep dive into my cultural background. What about me and my view now is shaped by American culture, and what have I brought with me from my upbringing in a Nordic country like Sweden? What is new, what is old, and what is just…me?
That was the first time I honestly reflected on my unique situation as a Swede in the States.
[…]
I gave the party what I believe was a satisfactory response, and the conversation went on to deeper levels of culture, politics, and social influence. However, I couldn’t shake the question, and it followed me to the subway and home. What will it actually take to fix this? Considering that climate change is such a perplexing problem that no one solution can fix it and no one country has the power to change its course, how will we make it out on the other side?
For one, it will take all of us. Not just every country, but we, the people, need to trust in leaders’ bold actions and look around ourselves to see how we can help. That means we must be willing to take a serious look at the future we’re headed for and ask ourselves if that is what we want, and if it isn’t, we must be ready to change our ways. Quite obvious, perhaps, but here comes the tricky part—our relationship with both the future and change!
[…]
“Climate change is first and foremost a problem of our relationship with the future.”
— Alex Steffen, as quoted in The Future Earth by Eric Holthaus
Let me ask you a question:
When was the last time you did something bold? Maybe you moved to a new town, switched careers, or decided to finally leave a relationship that wasn’t working. And if you’re too young for any of that, maybe you finally decided to speak up for yourself or stopped hanging out with a friend who didn’t make you feel good. Whatever it was, reflect on what brought you to take that action and how it made you feel. Looking back, do you wish you would’ve found the courage to change things for the better sooner?
Humans are an interesting species. We have this ability to make calculated choices and know what’s ultimately best for us, yet it can be so hard to act on that knowledge and change things for the better. Our human relationship to change and our ability to actively choose (or not choose) to change has always fascinated me. What does it take to leave what we know is safe, the “good enough,” in search of new opportunity, expansion, and growth? And more importantly, what triggers this kind of courage, and how can we use it to fuel the climate action we so desperately need?
The world needs change, and for that, we need courage, so the answer to the question I was asked over the candlelit dinner and that kept living inside me for quite some time, is we need it all. We need my perspective—new and old—and we need yours. We need the perspective of scientists, engineers, and economists, but also the perspective of the Indigenous and the old. We need the perspective of dreamers and visionaries, of artists and makers, of mothers and fathers, children, blue-collar workers, and entrepreneurs. We. Need. It. All.
And as much as we need to focus on science and finding the smartest and fastest next step, we also need a little dose of crazy. We need wild hearts dreaming of seemingly impossible tomorrows, and we must nurture those hearts as often as we can.
[…]
You may not know exactly what we face or what we need to do yet—I don’t think any of us really does. We don’t know what awaits us or the strength it’ll require from our hearts to overcome it. The best thing we can do is prepare ourselves and recognize that we don’t have a second to lose. All we have is something better to win.
That is why we need it all. We need fear and worry so we can remember why choosing change is necessary in the first place, but then we also need curiosity, excitement, and joy so we can find the motivation to keep trying.
We need to dream big and act boldly and continue to grow and nurture our hearts. We have to choose change, again and again, and again, until it becomes so natural that it’s simply what we do. We say yes to change. We have to question even when we don’t think there’s anything to question, and we must be willing to try new things, even if we’re happy and comfortable with the old.
And more than anything, we have to grow our relationship with the future and recognize that it’s not about what we can accomplish, but how much we can nurture what we have and pass it on. It’s not a rat race anymore; it’s a journey, and one all of us get to travel together. That is why, although it might seem like a scary time to be alive, it’s also the most exciting time there’s ever been.
It’s a time when we get to do the heroic work of choosing change.
These were excerpts from Chapter Two: Choosing Change. The book consists of a total of 75 chapters, broken up into 6 different parts. If you want to feel inspired and empowered as a climate activist, let your journey start here:
