We Are No Strangers to Love
“OMG ♥!!” I texted my colleague Zoe a few days ago, as I sent her the now-viral TikTok video of Greta Thunberg singing and dancing to Rick Astley’s ’80s hit, “Never Gonna Give You Up.” (Apparently the brief performance was a version of something called “Rickrolling.” The things one learns late in life!) There was something so uplifting about seeing the 18-year-old, now-world famous, climate activist bopping around and singing a few lines onstage with a friend before rushing off, giggling gleefully, into a welcoming cluster of more friends.
Gone was the serious, taciturn 15-year-old I’d interviewed in 2019 when the world had just begun to turn its gaze on her. Back then, Thunberg felt she was waging a lonely battle. She didn’t think too many folks, including her peers, cared about the climate. But in the three years that have passed since, I think she has realized she’s not alone. Young people today are engaging with climate and environmental activism in ways that previous generations haven’t. Best yet, they are no strangers to love!
Love for this living world and for our fellow beings is what drives environmental activism after all. It’s the sharing of that love that gives us strength and keeps us going. And it’s what allowed Thunberg to run up on stage that night and, for a while, simply be a teenager having a bit of giddy fun.
I was reminded of the importance of love and community again by another young climate activist, Artemisio Romero y Carver, during a Q&A session with this years’ Brower Youth Award winners on Tuesday. “You need other people,” she said. “Through relying on other people, when the time comes that you are burned out, when it is too traumatizing, when it is too exhausting, there will be other people to do that work until you feel like you can… and you will take over for someone else.”
So my takeaway this week: Find your peeps. You know, those folks who offer you love and encouragement even as they challenge you to do your best to save our imperiled world. And, while at it, be sure to make some time to dance.
Maureen Nandini Mitra
Editor, Earth Island Journal
P.S. The kids are really alright!
Photo by bekkchen / Flickr
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