Hey, everyone!
I'm working on another post about the first two months of my Fulbright here in Iceland, and some of the biggest events that have taken place therein.
And even though I do intend to go into more detail about this there, I wanted to take a moment to highlight an achievement of mine which is truly special to me.
As I've mentioned a few times, I care deeply and am extremely concerned about the state of the environment and human-caused climate change. I've felt very anxious for over a year now about the urgency of massive, systemic change which is needed to mitigate the worst of its potential effects, and the closing window of opportunity that there is to act sufficiently to prevent massive suffering and environmental breakdown.
It's been one of the main drivers of my awful mental health over the past year (which, thankfully, has improved tremendously over the past two months).
One way in which I've been trying to more productively deal with this anxiety has been participating in climate strikes and other environmentally-focused events. I attended my first global climate strike here in Iceland on the 20th of September. Seeing so many like-minded and concerned people lending their voices, bodies, and presences to the cause was deeply validating and empowering, and made me feel, for one of the first times since I started dealing with all this, like I wasn't alone.
At one point, I was approached by a woman from the Reykjavik Grapevine, the city's English-speaking newspaper, who asked about my homemade sign - which, in a loving tribute to the great Greta Thunberg's now iconic "skolstrejk för klimatet" ("school-strike for the climate") sign, read "loftslagsverkfall fyrir jöklana," meaning "climate strike for the glaciers," meant to call attention to a truly crucial side effect of climate change which is very present here in Iceland: the melting of the country's glaciers. Most notably, the former glacier Okjökull lost its glacial status in 2014 when its ice was no longer able to move, and was recently commemorated with a ceremony earlier this year and a plaque containing a "letter to the future."
The reporter asked if she could interview me, which I of course accepted, answering some questions about my sign, my environmental concerns, what I'm doing here in Iceland, and how I try to live in a more environmentally-friendly way at an individual level in my daily life.
Here is the article, which was later shared by my favorite Icelandic writer, Alda Sigmundsdóttir as well.
I can barely begin to put into words how special this experience was, and how much it means to me. Earlier this year, I spiraled horribly reading about the state of the world and the climate, and began to feel massively guilty about my own contribution to systemic issues far larger than just me or anyone around me, and feeling like I was a burden on the Earth.
In addition to feeling united and bound to the other people around me who attended the strike, it was wonderful for the Grapevine and my interviewer for featuring my voice, and seeing something special in my contribution to the Global Climate Strike. To have this contribution recognized and celebrated in this way is indescribably empowering and validating. I'm honored and humbled. And I hope you all enjoy reading it as well.
"It's not too late. We won't give up. Let's fight for a better future."
I'm working on another post about the first two months of my Fulbright here in Iceland, and some of the biggest events that have taken place therein.
And even though I do intend to go into more detail about this there, I wanted to take a moment to highlight an achievement of mine which is truly special to me.
As I've mentioned a few times, I care deeply and am extremely concerned about the state of the environment and human-caused climate change. I've felt very anxious for over a year now about the urgency of massive, systemic change which is needed to mitigate the worst of its potential effects, and the closing window of opportunity that there is to act sufficiently to prevent massive suffering and environmental breakdown.
It's been one of the main drivers of my awful mental health over the past year (which, thankfully, has improved tremendously over the past two months).
One way in which I've been trying to more productively deal with this anxiety has been participating in climate strikes and other environmentally-focused events. I attended my first global climate strike here in Iceland on the 20th of September. Seeing so many like-minded and concerned people lending their voices, bodies, and presences to the cause was deeply validating and empowering, and made me feel, for one of the first times since I started dealing with all this, like I wasn't alone.
At one point, I was approached by a woman from the Reykjavik Grapevine, the city's English-speaking newspaper, who asked about my homemade sign - which, in a loving tribute to the great Greta Thunberg's now iconic "skolstrejk för klimatet" ("school-strike for the climate") sign, read "loftslagsverkfall fyrir jöklana," meaning "climate strike for the glaciers," meant to call attention to a truly crucial side effect of climate change which is very present here in Iceland: the melting of the country's glaciers. Most notably, the former glacier Okjökull lost its glacial status in 2014 when its ice was no longer able to move, and was recently commemorated with a ceremony earlier this year and a plaque containing a "letter to the future."
The reporter asked if she could interview me, which I of course accepted, answering some questions about my sign, my environmental concerns, what I'm doing here in Iceland, and how I try to live in a more environmentally-friendly way at an individual level in my daily life.
Here is the article, which was later shared by my favorite Icelandic writer, Alda Sigmundsdóttir as well.
I can barely begin to put into words how special this experience was, and how much it means to me. Earlier this year, I spiraled horribly reading about the state of the world and the climate, and began to feel massively guilty about my own contribution to systemic issues far larger than just me or anyone around me, and feeling like I was a burden on the Earth.
In addition to feeling united and bound to the other people around me who attended the strike, it was wonderful for the Grapevine and my interviewer for featuring my voice, and seeing something special in my contribution to the Global Climate Strike. To have this contribution recognized and celebrated in this way is indescribably empowering and validating. I'm honored and humbled. And I hope you all enjoy reading it as well.
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