"I know it will be hard": how to keep going when climate hope is scarce
What does a concert have to do with climate hope?
Last month, I went to a concert that picked me up and put me back on my feet.
It was the end of a long week. Actually, it was the end of a long month, a long winter, maybe even a long year… and I was tired.
Part of the problem was that I had gotten up at 6 a.m. to attend a business breakfast (and my silly night owl brain is seemingly incapable of going to bed at a sensible hour). But caffeine can be drunk, and sleep can be recovered. What was worse was that I was mentally and spiritually tired, too… and a fix for that was a little bit harder to find.
The thing is, working in local government in the UK is tough right now. Political turmoil, uncertainty, fear, mistrust, disinformation, mounting demand and dwindling budgets… These are not the ingredients for positive change.
It is perhaps particularly difficult when you’re working on a challenge like sustainable transport, where emotions run high and conspiracies run rampant. In the UK, at least, transport planning tends to respond to an urgent problem like the climate crisis with achingly slow and expensive infrastructure projects that also happen to be initially unpopular with the very people they are designed to benefit.
In this context, to say progress doesn’t happen overnight is an understatement.
In the weeks before the concert, I have to admit that I had been losing hope. After two years of watching projects put on pause due to lack of funding or scrapped or watered down due to lack of support, I was wondering if shifting to a better, more sustainable world (where walking and cycling is safe, the air is clean, and buses come regularly) was just too… difficult.
And then I went to Grace Petrie’s concert on the launch day of her new album, very fittingly titled, Build Something Better.
All of the songs on this folk-punk album are wonderful. Uplifting and energising, Petrie takes you on a rollercoaster of stellar lyrics and a joyful blend of instruments. But the lyrics of one song in particular caught my attention:
“I think this world’s a fixer-upper, broken in the middle of a salvage yard
And I know it will be hard.”
“I know it will be hard.” Just as simple as that, standing on the crowded balcony, I remembered: building a better world isn’t supposed to be easy.
If I was struggling, then that was normal. Necessary, even. What did I think – that I could wake up and finish changing entrenched habits across the world before breakfast? Of course not. If I was struggling, it was only a sign that I was on the right track… because I was still trying.
If we all gave up trying to make the world a better place, our lives might be a little bit easier. A little more comfortable, a little more simple, maybe a little more sheltered from the storm of bad news and disappointment.
But would we be hopeful?
I don’t think so.
Sometimes hope doesn’t come from success or good news or climate ‘wins’. Sometimes hope comes from the process – no matter how difficult or slow – of simply trying to build something better.
Sometimes hope comes from knowing that things are going to be hard – and doing them anyway.
____
If you are in need of some hope on your own climate journey, below you will find this month’s selection of articles, books, prompts, and recommendations to give you that boost and the confidence that we’re in this together, trying to build something better.
✍️
Creative prompt
Look through Grace Petrie’s Build Something Better album and pick one of the song titles that calls to you. Set a timer for five minutes and write a quick poem using that song title as your prompt. Then listen to the song and compare your poem with the song lyrics – did you have any similar ideas or did you go in a totally different direction?
⭐
Hope-scrolling: six hopeful articles you should read this month
‘Things In Common’: an interview with Letchworth Garden Shed | Create The Future
Women in the DRC are pushing for land rights, and curbing gender-based violence in the process | Positive News
Rewilding: Revisiting the HOPE Anthology one year later | Create The Future
A mecca for rewilders: the community-led project restoring Scotland’s southern uplands | The Guardian
The soft life: why millennials are quitting the rat race | The Guardian
Public opening own homes to show eco changes | BBC News
📚
Escapism: what the Create The Future team are reading and /watching this month
Emma: I’ve been watching Slow Horses and have been on the edge of my seat. It’s a spy thriller so perhaps not the most relaxing watch, but the storytelling is incredible and the characters just walk right off the screen. A very welcome distraction at the end of a long day!
Leah: I’ve been trying to read more fictional books and I’m always very glad I’ve given myself some headspace and a breather from the everyday by entering another story. At the moment, I’m reading Poor Things which is a fantastic tale of many human conditions, one of them being unquestionable wonder at the world and the possibilities and characters which it holds. Sometimes things become clearer after you’ve taken some time to switch off and explore something new.
Jess: I’ve been reading Wild Woman by Philippa Forrester. I’m usually a big fiction reader, but I recently picked up this non-fiction title and have been absolutely loving it. Weaving together empowering stories from women working in nature across time and across the world, this is a funny, inspiring, and thought-provoking read.