When the going gets complex, why persist?
Rose is a young person who has from the get-go participated in the Send Plastic Packing in Katoomba Street Cafes project. It is now a year down the track since we started this project as a way of actioning change within community. Our determination to succeed is both challenged and unwavering.
There would be many reasons to ditch the project, the costs, the complexities, the time it is taking, the bigger picture in which it is a drop in the ocean of what needs to change when it comes to plastic production, and our reliance on fossil fuels that are driving the extreme weather we are experiencing this summer due to climate change. So why persist? Because young people like Rose should have their dreams. Their voices should be listened to. They should become rallying calls for community (especially those of us who have resources), to enable their dreams to inspire the changes they are telling us are important to their lives and futures.
If we want young people to participate in community and live in ways that are aligned with a kinder, fairer planet, we who have the resources and capacity, need to back them in the miniscule actions that are part of changing consciousness (the change of climate that is actually welcome).
Will you have a conversation this week that attends to the dreams of young people? Will you support an action they are dreaming, initiating, giving their mind and heart to?
If something is good for our young people, it is likely good for community. What is good for community is likely good for the planet. Rose wants to do something important with her life, not for herself but for those who have not been listened to, for those who have been harmed by systemic failures and the turning away from complexity when it comes to making change.
We want to support her dream, to give her the skills and confidence to work for achievable change. She has the courage, the inspiration, she even has a “business” plan for the big idea for her life. This local project to reduce plastic in the local community and place is cultivating the soil where further seeds will root and grow.
So, we are stretched but we persist. This is a lesson worth learning also.
Originally a high school teacher in the public system, Lynn has also taught at TAFE and in community settings. In the Steiner context, she has previously been a kindergarten and primary school teacher. In addition to her roles as Chair and Principal, Lynn is High School Co-Ordinator, teaches Geography and History, and co-ordinates the Outdoor Education Programme. Lynn has a B. Arts (UWA) and a Dip. Ed. (WA Secondary Teachers College).
