Photo by Aziz Acharki on Unsplash
New Habits for our Unwritten Future:
By Jill MacIntyre Witt
After nearly 2 years of the ongoing COVID-19 health crisis and years of inaction to tackle the climate crisis during the last presidency, it’s certainly a good time to take a closer look at our daily habits.
This 2022 Habits Hotsheet is a great place to start.
We all know deep down inside that we can’t return to the way it was. What people refer to as getting back to ‘normal’ is simply not sustainable. In the first half of 2020, carbon emissions fell during the global shutdown. It was exciting to see a glimpse of planetary reprieve and recovery. But that was not what fossil fuel companies wanted. Check out this latest report on the Koch Industries push for herd immunity, in order for corporations to continue as business as usual, at the expense of human lives. And for our species directly, after so much death and illness these past few years, we can begin to see the clear impacts. Reality is setting in…the virus will continue to remain elusive as we navigate our unknown future together. What we do know is that this will continue to raise our stress levels. It’s not going away. And what we also know is that the planet will continue to heat up and climate impacts will continue to get worse. It is up to each and every one of us to grab ahold of what we can to take meaningful climate action as we also take care of ourselves.
Climate anxiety is on the rise. We can get a grip. Let’s start with caring for our personal health and wellness and establish new habits in these new times. Habits for wellness will help sustain us while we take on bolder actions to address the climate crisis. Both wellness and climate action go hand in hand. Our future is for us to write, to navigate – and not just to live through – but also to thrive in. We must take care of our health, while we work towards creating a better world for our children and their children and their children’s children. Our wellness depends on the wellness of each other, not just our neighbors and friends but also those that are affected the most by climate change.
Our moral awakening must include facing the reality that: how we live grossly impacts those
that have done the least to cause the problems we face. We must not turn our backs on the youth of today – their call to act on climate couldn’t be more clear. We can slow climate impacts by reducing our own personal carbon impact and by demanding change from our governments as well as corporations. No more business as usual we can incorporate into our habits. We got this!
To help jumpstart your new year, I’ve created a 2022 Habits Hotsheet. It’s a list of many actions for you to choose…from your health and wellness, to lowering your carbon impact. When you get the Hotsheet, you will be put on a VIP list to be the first to know when the “Climate Anxiety to Action” online course is available. You can also follow us on Instagram @climateactivismlab.
Let’s make 2022 the year where we incorporate climate wellness into our daily lives so we can thrive in the unwritten future we are part in creating. As climate scientist Katherine Hayhoe says, “When you are taking action for the climate, it’s not for climate change, it’s for you, it’s for your family, it’s for everything you love, everyone you love, every place that you love.”
Jill MacIntyre Witt (she/her)
Climate Wellness Coach, NBC-HWC (pending)
UN Top 100 Human Rights Defender – 2019
TEDx Talk: “Climate Justice Now! How?”
Author – Climate Justice Field Manual: climatejusticenow.
Founder – climateactivismlab.com
Photo credit of youth: Unsplash by Tom Seger
