Its a quote from somewhere. Something I read or heard. It resonated with me and its given me plenty to think about.

What will you do today that your future self will thank you for?

I’ve had plenty of time to muse over things the last few months. I had a cancer diagnosis in February. I’m half way through the planned chemotherapy. Each treatment knocks me flat for a bit and then slowly I get up again and push on. In the flat periods I’ve slept (a lot), read, watched and listened to many different sources of info all around climate change. Thought provoking, interesting, critical, despairing, inspiring.

Might have been really easy, maybe even understandable, to slip into morbid despair at the state of things but perhaps strangely I haven’t. I kept coming back to that quote. What am I going to DO? Do……… is an action word and so as each cycle progresses and I, literally, get back on my feet I DO stuff.

The greenhouse has come to life with seedlings and tomato plants. My two boys have picked a new herb pot each time we’ve ventured to the garden centre. They chose basil last visit (to go with tomatoes) – Secretly, I think they have an idea of pizza!

Inside the house with my limited energy I have been starting to declutter – multiple trips to the charity shops with clothes, toys and random knick knacks! Things I am no longer using but that others could benefit from.

The highlight of my week was putting out the recycling on Tuesday night. I hate the job normally; not least because it is the obvious consequence of weekly purchase and consumption and waste. This week though, yielded about half the plastic trays compared to a ‘normal week’ and I didn’t put out the food waste bin because we haven’t filled it this week. Finally, a week of less shopping and batch cooking or slow cooking meals when I don’t have the energy in previous weeks resulted in a lot less waste. Another baby step. A new habit forming.

Today was the first day I have ventured out this treatment cycle and I ended up in the library, slightly exhausted, where the local climate action group has set up a small exhibition called ‘Climate Curious’. I feel recharged. Beautiful quilted art from textile artists capturing the fragility of melting at the poles and sea level rise, short video clips by local action groups looking after green spaces and rewilding areas locally. But the most thought provoking were the graphic designs by local college students showcasing their own concerns over climate change and the world that they will ‘inherit’. Extinction, continual pursuit of more coal, oil and gas, the growing of food and deforestation. All bringing into sharp focus how they feel we are treating the planet.

Inherit – what to do think of when you hear inherit? ‘The meek shall inherit the Earth’?

I think it is a very western view that success is measured by our ability to leave wealth to our children. Not yet are we properly hearing the voices of young people about what they know they are actually inheriting. They see the state of the planet and are questioning why we thought it was ok to turn it into a polluted, rubbish dump.

That is in real contrast to Indigenous communities across the world who see themselves as custodians of the land – they focus their efforts to protect and manage land such that it remains in a good, healthy condition to support the community. Their children take up custodianship of an environment that is looked after and valued so the community can continue to live and thrive.

So, what will you do today that your future self (or future generations) will thank you for?