There is space for everyone: My manifesto
Entering the climate movement in my teens was both exhilarating and nerve-wracking. I admired so many individuals' hard work and efforts in fighting for climate-just futures. I met the lovely people of Zelena Akcija (Friends of the Earth Croatia) and was enamoured by their drive to take action whilst being shameless and fearless. Their passion for human and environmental rights is one of the many things that gave me the drive and motivation for my work. Over the years of my young adult life, I’ve had the opportunity to meet activists across Europe, South America and Africa. Every person on that journey was so uniquely different and played a vital role in the climate justice movement. I met people who were AMAZING organisers, who could tell you every detail of every action they have taken to win their fight. I met intellectuals who knew the ins and outs of every ecosystem that exists on this planet. I met collaborators who somehow knew every person in the global movement. Meeting all of these great people sometimes made me feel inadequate and made me feel like I wasn’t doing enough. I even had moments questioning my activism and doubting the impact I thought I created. I wasn’t sure that I should subscribe to the label “activist” because I didn’t think I was “active” enough to even consider adopting that label. I used to have this thought constantly in my head…
This question used to cloud my thoughts on a daily basis, to the point where I got task paralysis. Task paralysis is “a transient feeling of being stuck in a place of uncertainty, unsure of where to begin” and it makes me feel numb and I get stuck, which results in inactivity. Sometimes, I can be my worst enemy and let these thoughts skew my reality and not recognise the skills and talent I already possess. Whenever these thoughts try to creep in and make me doubt myself and my purpose, I always like to remind myself that I am human and my capacity has a limit. Having boundaries and being honest about my capacity has improved my life and mental health by 1000000000%. It was a long, turbulent journey to get to this stage in my life but I’m here! (ish). Okay… I’m not perfect and I still do have moments where I question how much space I take. However, when that moment comes, I have a pocket full of coping strategies that work for me.
One of them happened on a lonely afternoon with some neo-soul music in the background, I sat down at my desk with my scrappy notebook and my soon-to-run-out-of-ink pen. I wrote my name in the middle of the paper and I explored myself. Yes, I explored myself. How? I wrote down my strengths, my hobbies, the things I liked; all just to remind myself the type of person I am. It didn’t stop there. In order to explore myself, I needed to reflect on the things that I tend to avoid. My weaknesses. Sigh. Who willingly wants to talk about their weaknesses?! It is so uncomfortable and so not fun. I had to know where my weaknesses lie so that I can work on them and also identify situations that I should not partake in. For example, I am not the greatest at making art for protests so I step back and let people who are talented at art step forward and take that space when the time comes. As a climate justice activist, who cares about so many issues, such as water security, food security, climate reparations, decolonial structures and processes, etc (just the tiny things). I feel as if I have to talk about everything and act on everything because everything is so interconnected and it is difficult to keep environmental problems separate from social issues.
Then I realised…
This movement is not about me and my ego, it is about protecting others and fighting to keep the futures of future generations away from harmful and toxic systems. My purpose is to be a part of the collective and not be the collective. Our movement’s focus is to create collective impact and change, which is something that is beyond our individualistic natures. We are trying to create futures that serve the global collective and move away from harmful systems that threaten and deteriorate collective wellbeing.
During my journey, I came across Deepa Iyer’s Social Change Map (pictured below) and she illustrated the roles that build up movements that fight for social change and I was in awe of her observation and depiction of how social change ecosystems are built. It was a reminder that everyone has their place in the movement. Movements need healers, nurturers, organisers, artists, writers, etc. This depiction put my role into perspective. I am a devoted researcher who likes to read and analyse systems and make my research accessible to my communities. I also love to talk to people and make sure that they feel safe and valued in the spaces that they occupy. Acknowledging this put me into a better mindset where I saw myself as a small puzzle piece that’s a part of a forever-expanding picture. Looking at the picture below, how do you see yourself? Sit down and reflect on the things you love to do and how that impacts social change.
From time to time, I hear someone say that they think that they don’t do enough and I ask them to sit down and list every action they have done in the past month. They immediately fall into default and moan “…nothing”. There seems to be a shared notion that every action made towards social change needs to grand and flamboyant. That is not the case. Actions can be small too. The main focus of creating change is looking at the impact. An individual talking about how they are going to be more conscious about their consumerist habits at the dinner table has an impact. It doesn’t matter whether the people at the table joined in the conversation, what matters is the fact that the topic was present and may have had an indirect impact that wasn’t instant. I don’t know if that was a good example but this is a space where I ramble and go with the flow. My point is that it is easy to think your actions have no impact because you didn’t see the results or maybe because you had a set expectation that wasn’t met. Sometimes you need to step back and remind yourself that your impact may not always be in your face.
No matter what, just remember that there is space for everyone. You are needed and valued. From personal experience, I’ve been lucky enough to be in environments and collectives that nurture the differences between all individuals and make that work for a collective vision. Here is a list of group/orgs/collectives that do amazing work at uplifting each other and the movement:
Young Friends of the Earth Macedonia
So much is happening in the movement and young people are taking initiative and radical action across the world. Follow the pages above and get some inspiration on how to be a part of the climate justice movement. Remember: there is space for everyone
