Articles

Yes, what do you see in the piture?

Maybe the ongoing work to provide one of the bedrooms in the house with wardrobes?

If so, you are right.

Almost.

There is more to it.

This is our portal to the future.

And

Their portal to the history.

Same house, same room, same wardrobe, but different time zones.

Yesterday I spent time with myself at the kitchen table. Empty pages, a good pen, and lit candles. “Dear future…”. I didn’t know what to write. Who will live here in the future? Who will decide to disassemble the wardrobes we are just trying our best to install? When will it be? And what do they want to know?

I let the pen wander off by itself. I wrote about the Lucia-dress, which I proudly found in a second hand shop, and which I just had washed and ironed in the basement. I wrote about the not so romantic family gathering in pursuit of the best Christmas tree, which rendered all five us AND the dog upset. I wrote about the aroma of freshly baked chocolate cakes, when we re-entered the hallway and stomped of the snow, and I wrote about my sorrow not being able to watch the school’s Lucia-celebration because of pandemic restrictions, and I wrote about my walk in the forest together with the dog.

All the time I found myself wandering if the things I wrote about will still be there in the future. Will there be a forest? Will the traditions prevail? Will there be any snow?

It took a long time for me to realize what I did NOT write about. I did not write about work. I did not write about professions. I did not write about the political status of neither my country nor the world. I wrote about the small things at hand, the everyday life, small things close to my heart.

And suddenly it poured out of me, I had to share my worries, about the climate change, about the changes I already seen in my lifetime, and my frustrating small efforts to DO something. I wrote about cultivation in our backyard, I wrote about my three composts, I wrote about our choice to only buy organic food, buy an “environmentally friendly” car, NOT buy a second car (and instead bike around the town with violins, cellos, sport bags, grocery bags – and God knows what), and that we haven’t been flying for 7 years. It didn’t help. I found myself trying to defend myself, trying to prove that I DID something to give them a future, when everything within me screamed that I do not do enough.

So, I started to ask questions. What is left of the neighbourhood? What is the climate like? How do they live? I won’t get any answers, but hopefully, hopefully the reader will understand that I care about them, their lives, and their right to be able to create small everyday things in this house, in this world, that they can keep close at heart.

Take care!
Torun

• 

I can suddenly see a dog in the crowd of people, signs, and flags. He seeks my attention and I bend down to read the sign he has around his neck. It says, “no more woof woof”. He is referring to what Greta Thunberg said earlier the same week at COP26, “no more blah blah blah”.

It was said that potentially 100.000 climate activists would march in Glasgow on Saturday the 6 of November, the day called Global Action Day. Me and my friends have successfully booked seats on one of the coaches that would take activists from Edinburgh to Kelvingrove Park in Glasgow, where the people shall assemble. On the bus we were all well-prepared for the weather, forecasted to be shifting and unfortunately a lot of rain was promised. However, this was nothing of concern for the mix of people on the bus, who all had brought raincoats and umbrellas together with their signs, drums, and megaphones.

• 

When we arrived, there were already thousands of people starting to organise themselves. “We will be marching in blocs”, we were told. First indigenous people and then approximately 12 other blocs, such as the biodiversity bloc and the one about climate justice.

The air is vibrating, and people are singing, playing music, and shouting! I had personally prepared myself for more tension between the police in yellow vests and the activists and as a result dangerous situations. Still, that was not at all the feeling I got once I started the march. Instead, I felt joy mixed with hope and despair. Children were sitting on their parents’ shoulders, laughing when they saw people with costumes and people dancing to the music. As we walked, journalists took pictures of all the creative signs, where jokes and irony were combined.

• 

• 

We are walking through the streets of Glasgow, close to where the climate conference is taking place and where politicians, leaders and experts are trying to agree on what we must do to enable a sustainable future. During the first week of COP26 more than 100 leaders agreed to reverse deforestation by 2030 and in terms of national carbon pledges, India pledge to achieve net zero emissions status by 2070.

• 

• 

We know that we must do more if we are going to achieve net zero emissions before 2050 and halt the global temperature rise to not more than 1,5 degrees. I can not help myself to start thinking, when I am in the middle of the march surrounded by people asking for more climate actions, what will I say to future generations if we fail to save the planet? Will I proudly tell them that thousands of people marched in rain and cold shouting out their appeal of climate justice? Will I tell them how the leaders tried to do something, but they did not make it in time?

All my thoughts give me a feeling of abandonment….. but right then the crowd starts to rejoice! Suddenly the rain stops for a while and the sun shines upon us as a rainbow appears in front of us.

• 

Yet there is hope, yet we have the chance to do what is right! I raise my sign even higher and join the crowd in their shouts for justice!

Frida Hansson
Glasgow, 6th of November 2021

PS. Would you like to do more? Akatingo has got you covered! Download the FREE Create Positive Impact Handbook 202/21. The handbook provides 67 practical tips and ideas on how you can unleash your creative power, generate and realize great ideas, make a difference and contribute towards real global change!

And thank you for dropping by!

Today we started the wonderful and funny work to create a webpage for Akatingo. As you can see there is not very much to be seen at the moment. Sorry for that.

But soon…

Warm regards,
Torun, Linda, Frida and Rebecka