Happy Thanksgiving! Each day, my life is filled with so much kindness, support, opportunity, and freedom that I am filled with thankfulness.
These last few weeks, however, I’ve found it hard to concentrate on all the bright things, without feeling the darkness that seems likely to descend on us in a couple of months.
As I try to learn how to boost my hopes, increase my efforts, and conjure an image of a healthy future, I have looked around for help. Here are two sources I’ve used and now recommend to my readers.
Anne Therese Gennari has written The Climate Optimist Handbook, which offers specific steps to increase optimistic feelings and reduce the other kind.
She calls them “steps to transform our climate anxiety into actionable optimism.” The aspect of her ideas that I like best is they’re action-oriented. Phrases like “find the courage to choose change,” “how not to hold back,” and “time to get excited about climate change” fit well with my urge to be doing something. Gennari also offers her ideas as a five-session online course and a summary of her thoughts in a TED Talk.
In addition, one of the best guides I’ve found for thankfulness during this particular Thanksgiving holiday is by my fellow Substack writer Lindsay Nunez in her latest Save Our Happy Place newsletter.
She gives specific advice about thankfulness and says, “This isn’t about glossing over the hard truths; it’s about finding a spark of light to guide us forward. Gratitude can be a strategy for resilience.”
On top of all the stuff I’m thankful for – including the readers of ClimateDog! – it’s hard not to concentrate on the changes I WILL be thankful for IF they come about. Maybe with that fixation prodding me to take action and make them happen, next year’s Thanksgiving will see those changes in place – or at least in progress.