Finding a Climate Activist Buddy
Hi everyone! I love sharing our stories. Here is mine:
I always cared deeply about the environment and knew that our societies had destructive policies. But I did not know how to get involved doing anything about it. It was such a big issue, and I felt hopeless. I tried getting involved in politics with the Green Party, but it was slow, and I felt stupid, so I quit. Sometimes I would go to a meeting of an activist organization, but there would be no obvious or appealing way to get involved.
Then a close Co-Counselor and I showed up [were present] at the same meeting! We laughed and cheered each other on. He felt hopeful about going to a civil disobedience action that people had talked about at the meeting, and we decided to Co-Counsel and think together about going. We both ended up going to the action and had mini-sessions while we were there.
After that, we became climate-activist counseling buddies for a long time. It made all the difference to me! We had Co-Counseling sessions on the environment. We told each other about things we were trying and cheered each other on. Sometimes we were there as a counseling ally when the other one was leading something challenging.
Then I had some health issues. When I was ready to reactivate myself, I asked a friend to be my become-active buddy, and we went to an Extinction Rebellion introductory meeting together. That was when I finally found my “activist home” where I prioritized building relationships from the start. It went well.
So I say, go find yourself a buddy or two!
Storvreta, Sweden
Reprinted from the RC e-mail discussion list for leaders in care of the environment
(Present Time 207, April 2022)