Have you asked your gran how to save the world?
No really, this generation gap is getting a bit old.
Written on a coach at 2am somewhere between Perpignan and Barcelona:
It happens slowly, then all at once.
Death, like love, like any change that really matters, has the power to shift the world on its axis. Monumental, disruptive and silent.
My mum died one year ago. Six months since my gran followed her.
It has been a year. It has been five minutes.
I wrote about it then. About what comes next, when the unimaginable happens. And the last year has provided no shortage of unthinkable things.
So what came next?
Turns out the unimaginable sets you free. Turns out a lot can happen in a year if you let it. Turns out we can imagine pretty much anything when we have to. And now, we really do have to.
I am 25. And I was sold a story - how does it go again? That I would work my way up the career ladder, and my parents would go grey slowly, and I’d visit them in their retirement home in 20 years time. An infinite cycle, life after life.
So how did that fairytale stand up to the test of time?
I lost my mum, I lost my gran. Lost my house. Briefly misplaced my hope that we would create a liveable future, somewhere on the ground in Glasgow. Lost my arrogant certainty that I know what I can and can’t handle. Lost my interest in comparing the present to a rose-coloured, pre-tipping point past. Lost my fear of the Other, the road less travelled by. Lost the need for reassurance. Lost my inhibitions, hell I lost just about everything that was holding me hostage in the status quo comfort zone.
Someone asked me recently if there’s still hope for the planet.
Why would you ask me anything? I thought the curtains had closed. I thought my world ended last year - and yet.
And yet the warm sunny slow days - they did come. In between all the chaos, the moments of peace found their way in. Good things always do. Love is sustainable. Kindness on the bleakest days. Flowers in graveyards. No dark without light, no loss without love.
Close to death and destruction, we are still alive.
So what do I know about what comes next? What do you know?
In this world there are no endings, there are no certainties. We can make and unmake futures. The islands are sinking - or they’re not. The Amazon is ashes - or it isn’t. The people I care about will be there to see it - or they won’t.
The pieces we need to rewrite the future are in front of us. But we cannot see the opportunities of the Here and Now if we spend our time clinging to the There and Then. We are the adults. We write the story now.
So will we do it? Will we let ourselves live?
Of course it won’t be easy. Of course there will be heartbreak. Would you have it any other way? Anything that hurts this much to lose is worth falling in love with.
What I’m trying to say is that a year on, everything is up in the air and nothing is how I imagined and that’s OK. It’s not perfect but it’s OK. We’re not on top of it but we can figure it out. We can make it OK. Let’s make it OK.
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What’s Going On?
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Focus On… Bridging Generation Gaps
Lisa Bergmann speaks with Hajar Ouahbi, a 22-year-old youth environmental and social justice activist and member of Different Leaders, and Youth & Environment Europe. Hajar recently worked with Climate Action Network Europe on the WeCANconnect project, a series of intergenerational conversations showing the diverse opinions within the climate movement.
How was the WeCANConnect campaign important?
It was an interesting project because the fact that we can connect people together reflects how the systems are connected and that we should all discuss with each other to come up with solutions.
Was there anything that surprised you during this experience?
As a young person, I was surprised that some of the older people were quite radical and thought the same as me about some things.
I was also surprised by their strength to still be working in this field after starting at a young age, that they’re not tired. They’ve seen how bad the situation has gotten but they are still involved and mobilised.
One thing that surprised me in a bad way is how some people believed in Green Capitalism - that we can compromise with big companies even after all they’ve done.
Overall, I was happy with the experience because I learned a lot. Some told me that in certain situations I need to be less radical. I came to understand that they have this field experience and full vision that I do not have and they helped me build ‘aware radicality’.
In what ways have you found working intergenerationally to be more effective?
In my collective, Different Leaders, we are 150 people. There are students like me and also older people. We work on social issues. I’m currently studying ‘ageism’ because I cannot be a social justice activist without including this factor.
I’ve realised I have a lot of prejudices when working with older people. I hadn’t realised how much they could bring me. People who are older than me can give me insights about places I will never be able to see (because of the effects of climate change). They can tell me about their field experience because you need time to build that and we do not have time anymore.
I am also an older person to others. I am working on collaborating with people who are older than me and also younger. People younger than me also have insights. As I am growing older and getting into habits and patterns that are difficult to get out of, I think younger people are able to tell me, ‘Be careful about what you’re doing, it’s not the right thing,’ even though they have less experience.
I’m thinking about my sister, who is a high schooler and also an activist. She plays this role for me and helps me to see what I also need to consider.
As we are running out of time, working intergenerationally, can only be effective!
What would you like older people to better understand about youth climate activists?
I think maybe, to be more gentle about our mental health. We hear, ‘Yeah, but you guys are lazy and don’t want to work’, or ‘But you people are too sensitive about some topics’.
I was always against people who were too sensitive, but now I believe getting in touch with your sensitivity is also getting more in touch with our environment and our ecosystems.
How can older generations support youth climate activists?
Money is the main thing, but also visibility. Don’t be afraid to pass the mic. We also need guidance. We want to avoid making some of the mistakes they’ve made. Guide us into some spaces and help link us to other people.
Also, follow us in our radicality. We are so used to public policies being some ways we cannot imagine the policies in other ways. Follow us in our radicality and creativity that we want to share.
One last thing. Some older people take some things about their lives for granted and do not pass them down to their grandchildren. I’m thinking about spirituality. I’m Muslim and what I would’ve loved my parents and older people who are Muslim to teach me, is the love of nature.
Here in France, many people from working-class backgrounds are Arab or black. Most are Muslim. As soon as I pass by their religion team and tell them, ‘I know you’re Muslim and I know in our religion we’re not supposed to harm nature and we’re supposed to fight for our rights’, they tell me that is what their parents have always told them. I ask them why they haven’t spoken about it earlier? They told me their parents were not pushing them to do it. So, this is what I tell older people that have some things that they take for granted and do not pass down.
Listen to the interview or read the transcript. Watch the rest of the WeCANConnect conversations on the CAN Europe YouTube channel.
So Now What Do I Do?
LEARN MORE
Come to our online event! On the 22 June at 13:30 CET we’re joining the Something Club for a session on balancing activism with mental health.
(Plus, a special lifetime discount to the Something Club to all Green Fix readers - 25% off monthly or annual membership use the code FIXSOMETHING at checkout.)Enrol in this free short course on climate change and human rights by Amnesty International.
Listen to the ‘Leadership in Action’ speaker series - next one on 10th May on using love as a force for justice!
TRY SOMETHING NEW
Submit your creative project on the relationships of food production, landscape and supply chains to this Foodwave challenge by the 8th May.
Extinction Rebellion Art is calling for creatives to submit their work on the theme of ‘Utopia-Dystopia’ by the 20th May.
Calling photographers! Enter the Global Peace Photo Award by the 22nd May.
CHANGE THE SYSTEM
UK residents under 25: Apply for the Climate Resilience four-day training residency on how to become an effective changemaker. Deadline 22 May.
Join the hybrid Rethink Plastic event with MEPs on the 12th May 12 CET exposing the impact of the EU’s plastic waste trade.
Join the Young European Leadership discussion, 12th May, on protecting biodiversity to protect human health.
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Overwhelmed by the saturation of climate news, Planet Days cuts through the noise and organize the week's top headlines into bite-size summaries. All newsletters are under five minutes.
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Great post, thanks for sharing. The personal coincides with and speaks to the epic.