http://www.climatejusticefast.com/index.php/blog/ en paulrobertconnor@gmail.com Copyright 2011 2011-03-16T05:51:36+00:00 http://www.climatejusticefast.com/blog/entry/days-of-doubts-and-fears/ http://www.climatejusticefast.com/blog/entry/days-of-doubts-and-fears/#When:07:26:12Z Hope is not to be be found in the science, or the polls, or in Copenhagen; there is none there. Hope is created by the love and courage of Laura, Jess, the CJF Six, and all of the others the world over wrestling with their doubts and fears, rising above them and taking meaningful action for climate justice. That is where Hope is. That is how Hope comes to be.      BPSDB "You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do." Eleanor Roosevelt . It is out of this admiration that I am joining a small group of people who will be participating in a rotational solidarity fast for the length of the Climate Change Justice hunger strike. " Jess Genuine political action is deeply personal and transformative. There is something awry if the external struggle with power and injustice is not matched by an equally intense internal struggle. The Climate Justice Fast is no exception. Laura I sit in front of my computer, contemplating my own hunger strike - a measly 48 foodless hours. I have just watched Anna Keenan and Sara Svensson speaking about their indefinite hunger strike, a notion which is not for the faint of heart.As I listen to their inspired words, and the conviction in their voices, I think to myself: ‘Has it really come to this?’ Acts of sheer desperation, wrought from the learned hearts of those who care so much – truly, this should be perceived as a bad omen. Climate change is a complex problem indeed; an issue worthy of thought, actions and solutions if ever there was one. It takes just the tiniest bit of awareness with a smidgen of foresight for each one of us – we, who make many decisions each day with our wallets and our apathetic attitudes – to become ashamed and fearful of our current global situation.It is difficult to imagine those two brave young women 40 days from now, closer to death than any of us would care to be, awaiting their demands to be met – while the politicians enjoy their lavish four course meals around boardroom tables. Will words of these women circulate amongst those decision makers? Will the unheard voices of the millions of affected people, starving against their will, infiltrate their minds for even a moment? As with so much of life, only time will tell.As I continue to abstain from food, I take comfort in the fact that there are solutions which do exist and goals which can be met; above all, I take solace knowing that there are many individuals who deeply care about lives other than their own. It is in these people that I place my hope, and rightly so. Together we can, in fact, make a difference. Last night Laura finished her shift in the Rolling Solidarity Fast and it was picked up by: Jess Jess has been wrestling with her demons as well.I would like to recommend two posts from her blog; Openly Balanced" is my study on living.  And who am I?  I’m just a regular person seeking balance – I’m a little obsessed with that word – in my life."      Is the Climate Justice Fast hunger strike extremism?     A Bright Green Crisis of Faith   and at Climate Justice Fast Paul is also working through doubt:   Upon reading Clive Hamilton's 'Is It Too Late to Prevent Catastrophic Climate Change', a stark and frankly depressing review of recent scientific appraisals of humanity’s ability to avoid catastrophic climate change, I was immediately struck by one thought: ‘something is missing here’. The Human Feedback Just as every soldier experiences both courage and fear, so one of the realities of political action is that one has both hopes and doubts. Political action that has no doubts or uncertainties is like an exercise program that involves no actual effort; it may be easy, but it won't do you or anyone else much good.It seems self evident once it is stated, but we usually forget that if the problem isn't big enough to inspire fear, or risk despair, then it's probably too small a problem to invest your time in. If the outcome is not uncertain, then it's too easy. If your personal actions do not stretch you, challenge you, scare you, then you aren't really trying.As individuals and groups it is tempting to attempt to suppress the doubts on the premise that they undermine the group, but that is a mistake. Courage is overcoming fear and moving forward despite it. Denying and avoiding it is an invitation to be overwhelmed by it later.Struggle for truth and justice must be a struggle with the world around us, but it must also be a struggle within our groups, and most particularly within ourselves. Truly confronting "the lies", external and internal, takes honesty and courage, and the personal struggle is integral to the political struggle.This is true because the duality of external and internal is an artificial one. In fact no such separation exists; there is just our lives as we live them. Lives lived in denial and fear, or with truth and courage.Make no mistake, the doubts and fears are legitimate. We may fail, we may fail individually and/or collectively. We may not be up to the demands that our age puts upon us. If honestly confronting our shadows always led to conquering them then everyone would do it. They don't because failure is possible and the risks are high.   "If one is forever cautious, can one remain a human being? "Alexander Solzhenitsyn But doubts and fears that are not confronted honestly cannot be overcome. As long as we bury them inside we can always be defeated by them. "They" need do more than invoke our doubts and fears and we will defeat ourselves. If we do not liberate ourselves from our own fears, we cannot liberate others.This is not the 'cost' of being an activist, it is the benefit. The world has not 'intruded into our pastoral lives', but rather woken us from our numb slumber. We have been given the chance to cast off our own shackles and discover that we are better than we thought, that we are capable of so much more.To soar we must aspire to the heights and throw ourselves from a great cliff.  The prospect may be terrifying, but if we don't do it we will never fly.What is before us is not a threat that we might lose the ground, but rather the opportunity to gain the sky. Is that not cause for gratitude?Hope is not to be be found in the science, or the polls, or in Copenhagen; there is none there. Hope is created by the love and courage of Laura, Jess, the CJF Six, and all of the others the world over wrestling with their doubts and fears, rising above them and taking meaningful action for climate justice. That is where Hope is.  That is how Hope comes to be. Two thousand years and half a world away                             Dying trees still grow greener when you pray Bruce Cockburn   “Since 1982, spring in East Asia (defined here as the eastern third of China and the Korean Peninsula) has been warming at a rate of one degree Fahrenheit per decade.”  Earth Gauge Click to share   We give our consent every moment that we do not resist. Reposted from Days of doubts and fears Greenfyre’s 2009-11-13T07:26:12+00:00 http://www.climatejusticefast.com/blog/entry/climate-justice-fast-ripples-and-waves/ http://www.climatejusticefast.com/blog/entry/climate-justice-fast-ripples-and-waves/#When:15:08:41Z A drop of water blood Mother Are you crying? Forgive us our sins For we know not what we have done Forgive me So I can give the last drop to my brother Horizontal Because he is your son And I am not your daughter. Maybe I forgot Your daughters feed the world. They say I am Mother, how did it happen Your wounds? Martha, participant CJF Solidarity Rolling Fast Read more...BPSDB  The Climate Justice Fast enters it's 6th Day. Don't forget these links Climate Justice Fast: Youtube Channel: including video diaries of Paul’s practice fast Facebook CJF Page: Facebook CJF Support: Activists plan hunger strikes for climate justice I am thrilled to welcome Gail to our CJF Solidarity Rolling Fast. Among many other things Gail is a climate witness documenting the (declining) health of trees. Here is an excerpt from her WWF Climate Witness Profiles: Until the summer of 2008, I was one of those lucky, oblivious people who believed that though climate change was going to occur, it meant a gradual, linear warming, and that the worst effects would occur far in the future, at some distant, exotic place, losing biodiversity, like maybe in Madagascar. I expected my paradise to remain a protected niche, where a spring-fed creek provided clean cold water, excellent soil had accumulated, and I was no where near the shore where wild storms and rising seas could disturb the inhabitants of the village where I have been so fortunate to live. Not in my home, in New Jersey! In fact though, from my journey to learn what is happening to trees, I have read enough to know that the terrible results of burning greenhouse gases are going to bring about change that is abrupt, violent, and sooner rather than later - just what is already happening in my own back yard, now. read on Gail is also the voice of Wit's End, a blog with some interesting posts and absolutely awesome photography, check it out. As part of our CJF Solidarity Rolling Fast Laura began fasting last night as Stewart (S2) finished his shift. Here's Stewart's meditations on the experience. Day 1: Up at 0700 UT (earlier than usual for a Sunday). Immediately I was hungry. This was a surprise, as I skip breakfast a couple of times a week on average. I think this could be analogous to a smoker suddenly discovering that he or she has run out of tobacco - there is an immediate and intensified urge for a smoke. Does deprivation enhance desire? Am I addicted to food? By about when lunchtime would have been I'd settled down a bit. In fact I had quite a productive morning. Food had come to mind far more often than I would have suspected (especially when cleaning the kitchen). I thought about cheating more than once, but resisted the temptation. The afternoon was also productive (I spent most of it doing physics). I did notice the cold - but then the autumn (aka fall) has so far been very mild and wet here, but the last couple of days have been cold and dry. I put on an extra jumper, and when that didn't help I put the fire on. By 1900 UT I was no longer feeling hungry. It was just the occasional rumble from my stomach that reminded me that I hadn't eaten (the rumble didn't go away until the afternoon of day 3). However I was beginning to feel pretty tired. I ended up going to bed perhaps an hour or so earlier than usual. Day 2: Woke 2 hours too early. Never mind, it was an excuse to get another couple of odd jobs done and out of the way before leaving for work. I felt really good on my way in, we had had the first heavy frost of the autumn and every twig and blade of grass had it's own overcoat of frost, the sky was brilliantly clear and the Sun was low in the East - magic. It felt great just to be alive. The good feeling lasted until lunchtime, when people around me started eating - so I went for a walk. The worst bit was passing between a Fish & Chip shop and an Indian Curry House, but I carried on down for a walk around the park and to say hello to the family of swans there. By mid-afternoon I was flagging a bit and my head was starting to ache. By the end of the day I was feeing tired, but again going for a walk helped. After getting home and changing, I began to feel tired again. I thought about staying up until midnight but gave up on the idea and  went to bed early again. Morning 3: Woke at 2 a.m. - 4 hours early. What's going on here? Does the body clock get confused when there's no food coming in? I seemed to have switched to a 22 hour day. I put a wash on, had a black coffee and went back to bed just to keep warm, I didn't feel sleepy - but immediately fell asleep for another three hours. On reawakening I felt remarkably good - but this may have simply been because the end was in sight. I got washed, dressed and (finally) had some breakfast. I actually had a surprising craving for yoghurt (which I rarely eat, so there was none in the house) - but I settled for dried cherries and figs. Tentative observations: Hunger may be a transient thing. It is your body's way of telling you that you need to eat, but it may not keep repeating the message if you're not listening (or unable to respond). I was clearly hungry for the fist half of day 1, after that I was sort of conscious of it but it only became bad when others around me were eating or when I could smell food being prepared. Food deprivation doesn't stop you thinking (at least on short timescales). It may even enhance it. I felt pretty sharp on the physics on Day 1 and for at least the morning on Day 2. A possible corollary - being mentally active may suppress hunger. I was surprised at how cold I felt, since I don't usually notice the cold until my fingers go white. I guess it's a metabolism thing, but I don't really know. All in all, the anticipation was worse than the experience. But I have to say that after having tried it on a small scale myself, I'm even more in awe of the people who are fasting seriously. I took a stroll along the beach, they are serial marathon runners. Would I try it again? Yes, I think I probably will. I think I have more respect for food (and what it means to people) than I did before, but that is based on just two days of my life and (at the moment) I would like to explore this a bit further. I might progress from casual stroller to casual jogger, but I know that I'll never make serial marathon grade. Stewart ---- We still have room for more people to participate if you would like to to be part of a solidarity fast, or start your own group.  There is still 37 days to go, so there is lots of time to organize a group, particularly for during Copenhagen itself. “Since 1982, spring in East Asia (defined here as the eastern third of China and the Korean Peninsula) has been warming at a rate of one degree Fahrenheit per decade.”  Earth Gauge We give our consent every moment that we do not resist. IMAGE CREDITS: Ripple by ~~Tone~~ Blue Ripple by basegreen Ripples in the pond of dreams by Thorsten Becker 2009-11-11T15:08:41+00:00