How will you spend your time?

What really matters

Near the beginning of “An Inconvenient Truth”, former US Vice President Al Gore reflects on the two life events that motivated him to dedicate his time to fighting climate change: learning about climate science from a respected university professor; and the near-death of his young son in an accident.  Gore’s telling of the story is set to a haunting piece of instrumental music, “How could I spend my time?”

This summer, I’ve been able to retreat to my kayak a bit more than in recent years.  It’s been rejuvenating to breathe the fresh air and savour the natural beauty.  Perhaps your retreat has been a cottage, camp or cabin.  Perhaps it’s been a road trip.  Perhaps it’s been socializing with a beverage in hand as we re-emerge (kind of) from the pandemic.  Whatever your retreat, hopefully it’s been rejuvenating and re-energizing.

But this summer, the planet has been sending us some pretty strong distress signals about the state of our climate, and how frighteningly fast change is happening.  Record-breaking heat in Europe and China; extreme wildfires in France and Newfoundland; severe drought in China and Germany; flash flooding in Austria and Afghanistan.  And that’s just a sample.

Soon, fall will beckon us back to our ‘normals’ and routines.  In view of the need for climate action, here’s a simple question to ask yourself: how will you spend your time?  Same old same old?  Or is it time for a real and big change, to something more meaningful and more important?

Making a big change is daunting, for sure.  But take inspiration from the people featured here who did just that.  Some of their new ventures:

• WorkOnClimate.org: to help people find climate jobs or start climate companies
• ClimateBase.org: a site listing jobs in climate
• The Climate Ad Project: working to build awareness of the need for many more climate activists

If tech’s not your thing (and it sure isn’t mine), don’t despair.  Instead, why not do an inventory of your talents, values and interests, and, to paraphrase Richard Nelson Bolles, find the place where they intersect with the world’s greatest needs.  Maybe it’ll be installing solar panels; or teaching eco-and energy literacy; or doing energy efficiency upgrades; or communicating with our leaders about the importance of real climate action; or volunteering at your local environmental non-profit; or simply making positive changes in your own life.  Maybe you’ll want to check out The Work That Reconnects conference happening in Nova Scotia in October.

Whatever you do, please do something – because as the Lung Association slogan goes, “When you can’t breathe, nothing else matters.”

I hope summer has rejuvenated and motivated you for a focussed, productive fall, and maybe even some new beginnings.  I know my kayak outings have helped replenish my soul, and reassured me that working on climate change awareness and solutions is still the best way for me to be spending my time.