Parenting in a Changing Climate: Tools for Cultivating Resilience, Taking Action, and Practicing Hope in the Face of Climate Change

by Elizabeth Bechard

Chapter 9 Reflection Key practice: Align your beliefs about yourself with the world you want to see. Questions for reflection and discussion with others: How do you relate to the word or idea of “activism”? What stories do you hold about what activism means, or what “counts” as activism? How has becoming a parent shifted your capacity for engagement with the social and political issues you care about? How might your sense of identity need to shift in order for you to engage in an active response to climate change? The chapter references a New Yorker article about “the other kind of climate denialism”—the kind that thinks that it’s someone else’s job to take care of the problem of climate change, or that the problem can wait. How might this kind of denialism be showing up in your own life, or in your social and professional circles? Would you consider joining a climate action group? What barriers or limitations might be present? How might you overcome them?