Being Sticky

Three thoughts:
1.Meet people where they are at and make the knowledge you hold about climate change tangible, concrete and relevant

2. Seek to REGENERATE.

3. We are not at WAR with Climate Change. We have been invited to heal and to envision a harmonic future. This is an honor.
best stated... "The true joy of life is being used for a purpose you consider a mighty one-the being a force of nature rather than a feverish, selfish cold of ailments and greivances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy." uknown


When we utter the big scary words, CLIMATE CHANGE...duhn dhuh dhone... it invokes this bigger than thou feeling. It's too big for little 'ol me to deal with. "I mean, I would really love to help, but where would I start?" There are some tricks to the trade as they say, heuristics, rules of thumb for dancing with this one. When the conversation bubbles to the big CC. You may be encountered with feelings of despair, or apathy, or plain and honest. "I can't wrap my head around this. I don't know what to do".

If you've spent years distilling the nuances of the environmental movement, from Rachel Carson to Biosphere II to Gore and the big unveiling of "oh man are we f-cked", we must be mindful of what and how we share our understanding. You will ultimately effect the motivation and well-being of the people involved. If we are to help them see the world with a new set of eyes, we cannot give them the full unabridged manual, the sombering truths, the hard facts, the species count and say. Here you go. Get to it. This will not work.

1. We need to begin with an understanding of where the other is at.

What are they passionate about?
What do they understand about CC, about sustainability?
How does it make them feel?

Because CC and sustainability effects everything, you can find a way to connect. This is a challenge.. and asks you to be creative and find ways to have meaningful conversations about a topic that otherwise may be most diligently avoided at all costs.

2. Conversations need to be simple. It is not about winning. It is about honoring the other.

You need to phrase things in a way that does not seek to put your conversation partner into the depths of scientific darkness. Do not try to dazzle them with the "I know everything attitude" and "You subsequently know nothing". In fact is is you that has everything to gain from understanding this other person's perspective. You undermine your ability to be effective if you believe and materialize an air about you that you know it all. This, then is a blunder for your own development. Remember you seek to regenerate yourself as much as the other. The superiority, inferiority game. Save it. This won't work for either you or them. period. Your value is not won, it is shown through your ability to understand the other persons level of knowledge and match them there. Your value is in honoring the diversity and value in the other, acknowledging it and empowering them to share their love, their talent with others in a meaningful way in a journey towards restoration.

-Use concrete examples that speak to local areas.
-Don't just speak with big global statistics, yes there is a time for this, when we are assessing a high level systems perspective, and leave it there.
-Speak to people in a manner that is tangible, relevant, and concrete.
-Share a story, and at that, share a success.

3. Envisioning where we want to be. Adapt your mindset.
Our new way of seeing the world does not dwell on past failures or drill so deeply into one idea that all other parts of the system are ignored. Instead, we dwell with passionate fervor on what we want to create, of what we want to heal or restore. We dwell on the vision of success of sorting out this... CLIMATE CHANGE thing with a new mindset. It is not a beast that we fear. And if we see it this way, we will continue the war-like behavior that perpetuates. The war of Drugs, The War on Terror, The War on Iraq.

Be not mistaken. THis is not A WAR on CLIMATE CHANGE. This is a partnership with earth to try harder at peace. Earth has spoken. We have heard her cries. Now that we hear, now that we know, we can take her hand and heal.