My Green New Deal, Part 3

Say 'Yes' to The Mess

Paris Lights, Spring 2012 By E.R.Swett

OK. So
I was really
inspired by last week's
Global Student Strikes for Climate.
If the Pope, Paris & thousands of scientists aren't
convincing enough, listen to the kids.
They speak truth.

Sunrise in Maine, 2014 By E.R.Swett

'I don't want 
your hope. I don't want
you to be hopeful. I want you to panic...
and act as if the house
is on fire."
-Greta Thunberg, World Economic Forum

Storm in Mexico, 2018 By E.R.Swett

OK Greta.
I'll try. But when
the winds blow and my heart
races, I run for shelter to protect myself and
my children. I think, "my children are
watching, I must stay calm."
Isn't it my job to
​protect?

Footprints in the Sand, 2010 By E.R.Swett

I think,
though, that you're
asking me to stop protecting by
running away. You're telling me that we,
mothers and fathers across the planet, have to protect
not by seeking shelter from the storm, but
by facing the wind, rain and fear
and calling them what
they are. 

"Yield" by Roxy Paine. Crystal Bridges Museum, Arkansas. Photo by E.R. Swett

This, 
for example,
is a work of art that
looks like a tree and this is
a tree that looks like
a work of
art.

Is this a real tree? Which will yield first? Photo by E. R. Swett

My Green 
New Deal Part 1:
Celebrate FDR's Creativity.
My Green New Deal Part 2: Beware
window dressing. One of these trees is not real.
Do not be deceived. My Green New
Deal Part 3: Say yes, Greta,
I will embrace the
truth.

Sunrise in Maine, 2014 Photo By E.R.Swett

But to 
embrace the truth,
I must name it. We have a
problem that frightens me. Those fires
in California and floods in the Midwest are daunting.
Then, I listen to Franklin Delano Roosevelt
and remember that "the only
thing we have to fear
​is fear itself." 

OK. Here I am. By E.R.Swett, 2015

Got it Greta.
Got it President Roosevelt.
I'm on it.

A Tree in Bloom, Anytime. By E.R.Swett

"Jazz
improvisors
focus on discovery
in times of stress...They interpret
challenging situations so that
fear does not limit
​choices..."
-Frank Barrett, Yes to the Mess

Hanover Neighborhood Action Group 4th of July Parade, 2018 Photo By E.R.Swett

I am not
a jazz musician,
but I love the energy that
comes from a group ​of people working
together to find solutions to real problems. With our
Neighborhood Action Group (the NAGs),
we've walked in a parade and 
organized neighborhood
conversations. 

Hanover Energy Forum "Sneak Peek" 2019 Photo By E.R.Swett

For ongoing
inspiration, I've started
listening to podcasts hosted by women
(it is Women's History month, after all)
who say yes to this mess with
humor, compassion
​and joy.

Neighborhood Action Group Planning, 2017 Photo By E.R.Swett

Here are three that I currently following:

Mothers of Invention
(With former Irish President Mary Robinson and comedian Maeve Higgins)

No Place Like Home
(Anna Jane Joyner & Mary Anne Hitt; Sponsored by The Sierra Club)
​
Cultivating Place
(With Jeniffer Jewell - Focus on gardening, but really about the human spirit)

Big Green Machine & The Parade, 2018 Photo By E.R.Swett

Greta -
This is how we 
express our panic in New
Hampshire. I know we look silly,
but we're listening - - to you and to each
other. Personally, I'm grateful to you for keeping
us honest and inspiring us to say 'No'
by saying  'Yes' to
this mess.