After a Winter that was not as snowy, cold, and deep as we are used to - a season that brought up worry, concern and dread for many of us - we turn slowly and gently towards Spring.
The Spring Equinox is next week. The animals are waking and exploring the land, the birds returning, the sap running, the flowers and buds preparing and we too find ourselves awakening.
Awakening with curiosity, wonder, worry. Perhaps awakening with a fresh sense of purpose and optimism for what this season will offer. Awakening to what the collective can achieve when we come together. Awakening to the feminist climate renaissance we need to support a just, beautiful, connected, regenerative relationship with each other, the planet, and all living beings.
This spring, our climate care book club is exploring themes of Awakening, Curiosity & optimism and you are welcome to join us at any point.
As usual, we will turn to books and podcasts for inspiration, but most importantly connect, share, and integrate live during our monthly calls to integrate the lessons of awakening that Spring offers. We have collected some books and podcasts to inspire. These books and podcasts are options - a menu for your “choose your own adventure” spring 2024 climate care book club adventure.
BOOKS TO SUPPORT YOUR spring awakening
A little more about the books (C/o Good Reads summaries)
The Future We Choose by Christina Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac
In The Future We Choose, Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac--who led negotiations for the United Nations during the historic Paris Agreement of 2015--have written a cautionary but optimistic book about the world's changing climate and the fate of humanity.
The authors outline two possible scenarios for our planet. In one, they describe what life on Earth will be like by 2050 if we fail to meet the Paris climate targets. In the other, they lay out what it will be like to live in a carbon neutral, regenerative world. They argue for confronting the climate crisis head-on, with determination and optimism. The Future We Choose presents our options and tells us what governments, corporations, and each of us can and must do to fend off disaster.
Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet by Thich Nhat Hanh
In this masterful work, one of the most revered spiritual leaders in the world today shares his wisdom on how to be the change we want to see in the world.
In these troubling times we all yearn for a better world. But many of us feel powerless and uncertain what we can do. Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) is blazingly clear: there’s one thing that we have the power to change—and which can make all the difference: our mind. How we see and think about things determines all the choices we make, the everyday actions we take (or avoid), how we relate to those we love (or oppose), and how we react in a crisis or when things don’t go our way.
Filled with powerful examples of engaged action he himself has undertaken, inspiring Buddhist parables, and accessible daily meditations, this powerful spiritual guide offers us a path forward, opening us to the possibilities of change and how we can contribute to the collective awakening and environmental revolution our fractured world so desperately needs.
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Well Kimmerer (back on our reading list by popular demand!)
As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these lenses of knowledge together to show that the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings are we capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learning to give our own gifts in return.
Podcasts to supporT your spring awakening
A little more about the podcasts (c/o of Spotify Summaries)
Our Story of Nature: A 3-Part Mini-Series on the Optimism and Outrage Podcast
Christiana Figueres introduces a new mini-series, Our Story of Nature: From Rupture to Reconnection. Over three episodes, Christiana and guests will shine a light on our relationship with the rest of nature. Does transforming our connection with the natural world hold the key to transforming our response to the multiple environmental, political and social crises we face?
Ecological Hope & Spiritual Evolution with Christina Figueres on the On Being podcast
The ecological crisis we are standing before is at once civilizational and personal — intimately close to each of us in the places we love and inhabit, and unfolding at a species level. And as much as anyone alive on the planet now, Christiana Figueres has felt the overwhelm of this and stepped into service. She gives voice so eloquently to the grief that we feel and must allow to bind us to each other — and what she sees as a spiritual evolution the natural world is calling us to.
Hope is the Power of Plants & Indigenous Knowledge - Robin Wall Kimmerer on the Jane Goodall Podcast
Join Dr. Goodall as she speaks with author, botanist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Robin Wall Kimmerer. In this thoughtful conversation, Jane and Robin consider how much more there is to not only learn about plants, but to learn from them as well. The pair also focus on the urgent need to encourage a reconnection with the natural world through stories, in order to prevent the ills facing our world. As Robin succinctly puts it, “in my own evolution I have gone from scientist to storyteller because it feels like that’s what we need right now.”
GATHERING, CONNECTING & SHARING
Connecting live is the best! Here we are live and in person, Spring 2023.
Connecting live reminds us that we are not alone, inspires cross-pollination of ideas, resources and opportunities. There is magic that happens during our live connections as our collective wisdom, learning and curiosities expand. It’s a beautiful and powerful time and we will continue to meet monthly online on the first Wednesday of the month at 8pm ET.
So mark your calendars, we will be gathering live the following Wednesday evenings at 8pm ET:
Wednesday April 3rd at 8pm,
Wednesday May 1st at 8pm, and
Wednesday June 5th at 8pm
Join us on Slack! We have a few slack channels that are active and open for sharing reflections, new resources, playlists, content so that you can continue to engage in between our live gatherings. Invite to our Slack Group (available on an app or your computer).
