I've got some crazy sinus-head cold driving me a bit mad. Colds and flus have been very weird over the past decade. I get bugs that last for months and never quite leave. This one was bad enough to forego a day's pay (which I can't afford) - the joys of being a casual. I might have pushed through but I also cracked a back molar and as good as Paracetamol is, I decided I was allowed to be self-indulgent, stay home and do nothing - or not much anyway.
I'm probably just exhausted. I get sick when I'm exhausted.
Our FaBWA group now has 2000 members but those leading the charge number about 5 - with one or two floating in and out from the 30 strong committee. As always only a few people end up doing the work in community groups. I'm a 'doer' so I usually stay away from them. I'm sick, our group convenor is sick and our new co-ordinator has just recovered from a terrible cold. Tomorrow we will spend our Sunday in a strategy group workshop to get some clarity on our priorities and what we should be doing next.
The virus is wearing us all down. It's possibly the one thing uniting the world right now. That and climate change. In this fearful new normal I worry for the collective mental health of the nation, of the world. This is only the beginning. Things are going to get a lot crazier.
I'm reminded of the John Clease routine in Fawlty Towers in which he is entertaining German guests in his little English guesthouse and tries ever so hard not to mention the war. Whatever you do - DON'T MENTION THE WAR. Of course he does - time and time again.
It's a bit like that with 'the vaccine'. I want to but I'm nervous about asking/talking to people about it because it is such a touchy subject and I don't know who I am talking to. Like climate change it has become a divisive issue. I have basically lost my closest friend over it. We simply can't talk to each other at the moment and I'm not sure we will ever be able to. As a traditional Catholic the potential for foetal cells in the vaccine was the starting point for her. She even lost respect for her own Pope because he was advising people to get it. Since then my friend has been tunneling down YouTube and SkyNews worm holes populated with right-wing conspirators, Qanon and anti-vaxxers. I just can't get through to her and I will now stop trying.
And don't mention climate change either. This is our old surf club. There is a new one behind this one but it is also at risk if the cold fronts keep coming through. It must be obvious even to the deniers that the seas really are rising. Over the past couple of years we have basically lost the only accessible family safe surf beach in town. I don't know what the surf club will do this season - so many kids have joined up because the town has grown rapidly in the past couple of years.
Recent extreme weather events in many parts of the world have probably tipped a lot of doubters over the edge of believability so convincing them may not be the problem any more. The problem is - what are we going to do? What can we do? We all feel so helpless. I went into work the day after the IPCC report came out. I went into the office and looked at my colleages and said: 'did you see the report?' They looked at me with a bereft shared knowing.
It's official. We're fucked.
I said to my colleague, who is the same age as me: 'you know I was hoping I would be long gone before this climate thing really kicked off'. She said she was hoping the same thing. It was obvious to both of us we weren't going to escape the fires of hell now.
The obvious next question is: 'how do we live out the rest of our lives?' I honestly don't know. But I do think this is a time in which we are being forced to 'nail our colours to the mast'. I guess I'm one of those people who can't sit passively by and let things fall apart - regardless of how hopeless it looks. I try not to be mad at those who have given in, given up and choose to party out the rest of their existence. Many aren't in a position to do anything, and many are doing what they can - which is all you can ask.
For me 'doing something' means easing pain where I can and trying to protect what we have left. And trying to enjoy what we have left - which means riding the old rail trails and bike paths on my new e-bike. It also means helping others when I can - like creating graphics for free to help our group - like the leaves and the quokka above - but also for other groups like the one below.
Robin I think if everyone simply tried to make their carbon footprint as small as is practically possible that would have a considerable impact. And I'm sure you are doing that. We are all trapped in this system and we can only do so much. But it's excess that is killing us.
ReplyDeleteI still don't understand why empty office and business buildings need the lights on at night. And that's why I don't participate in Earth Hour. I watch my electricity consumption EVERY DAY. Doing it on a Sunday night once a year is tokenism and I refuse to deny myself Sunday TV viewing to make some vacuous self-righteous public declaration.
I read this article the other day and thought of you. I finally remembered to share it here with you.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.vox.com/22595896/climate-change-fire-heat-wave-anxiety
Thanks Robin. This is an excellent article and I've shared it with our FaBWA strategy team because we are all exhausted.
ReplyDeleteIt's true that change at a government and corporate level is critical, but until individuals demand change it's not going to happen. So in some ways it does start with each of us but as the article points out - we have to keep things in perspective. The irony of simply replacing non-essential spending with eco-products is clear. We can't expect alternative energies to fix the problem. The problem is that we consume too much and create too much waste. And that is probably the hardest part of the argument to prosecute because most people don't want to give anything up. The challenge is to make them understand that consumerism is really the problem. And excess of course.
I just heard Ketan Joshi on the Chaser radio breaking down the report and it's really interesting. Pretty obvious what we all have to do. Sometimes I feel rather smug living off grid but then I jump into my diesel four wheel drive to go to town!
ReplyDeleteI share your smugness Sarah but I also realise I drive nearly 60km each way to get to work. Just as well it's only 2 days a week. I feel as though my e-biking is offsetting that a bit now.
DeleteBut yes, we are all stuck in the system somehow. I'd love nothing better than to get an electric car but they are way out of my range cost wise.
My son talked me into joining Extinction rebellion. Im not 100% sure it's the right things though. I feel like XR is a grassroots organisation that demands memebers stick their necks out and while I do all I can for the environment, I find it hard to cop the flack that comes with outspoken concern. I tried and tried as a teenager and people laughed at me. I stopped talking about it then. It's weak of me but I cant cope with being mocked.
ReplyDeleteI am usually a vaccine skeptic. I didn't give my kids the HPV shot and have turned down sorely needed work over flu shots but with covid we don't know the enemy. We don't know what long term effects it could have and we can't predict with any accuracy who it will hit hardest. I will be getting vaccinated, I wasn't eligible until the week before my surgery and since then I haven't been willing to ask anyone to take me to get it but as I pull my weight more around the house I am more willing to ask and I'll be making an appointment in the next week or so.
I also wanted to say and forgot, I am sick to death of people posting about covid on social media. I know which people are pushing vaccines, the ones who re-post news articles about how scared we should be annoy me. I agree with them but I am sick of having them shove their opinions down my throat, the pandemic has raged for long enough, everyone has had time to think and won't be changing because of some silly facebook post.
DeleteI have lost friends over vaccines in the past but i have no intention of doing it again. I just avoid the whole conversation unless I believe the person I'm talking to will continue to respect me