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Dear Heaven Maker:
The world is focussed on COP 26, the global environment conference happening in Glasgow, Scotland.
In addition to the pollution affecting our physical environment, there is also the pollution affecting our mental environment.
Clover Hogan is a young environmental activist who has decided to directly tackle both of these issues.
Please watch her video…and commit to one simple action you will take today to clean up the physical and the mental environment. The world needs your action now.
Martin
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[Here’s an article about Clover written by Sofia Phillips, which I’ve edited for brevity.]
Clover Hogan, 22, is part of a rapidly increasing number of Gen Zers suffering from ‘eco-anxiety,’ finding themselves stressed, fearful, and even depressed in the face of the climate crisis.
She’s decided to mobilize mindsets to turn this frustration into agency.
This is what Force of Nature – the non-profit she founded in 2019 – is striving to do: cultivate the resilience and determination of today’s youth to drive genuine, transformative change.
Without a specific term to define her emotions and an acute awareness of the lack of support from education systems and authoritative bodies, a 16-year-old Clover decided to write her thesis on ‘ecophobia,’ the feeling of helplessness amid environmental collapse. Clover wants us not to feel helpless, but empowered, channelling this into constructive activism.
‘Mental health is pivotal to being able to bring about climate action,’ she says. ‘So, we’re really trying to take the conversation around both eco-anxiety and ecophobia mainstream. Anxiety can be a critical catalyst for action.’
‘When we allow ourselves to experience the depth of our feelings (creating a ‘container’ by way of community, and an ‘outlet’ through activism), we’re in a better position to step up, rather than shut down.’
She recommends we home in on what ignites the fire within us most and find our impact through focus.
‘While empathy is great, we must find our one sphere of influence, choose what we personally believe we can solve.’
‘I find it so energising to work with young people because we haven’t been around long enough to let society clip the wings of our imagination,’ says Clover. ‘They have an innate ability to think outside of the system, to remind themselves that there’s no such thing as being too small to make a difference.
Clover is a shining example of everything she herself stands for. On an unrelenting mission to reprioritise what matters to the world, she’s both safeguarding the fragile mental health of a generation of activists and nurturing their feelings to bring about the necessary agency.
‘To solve our beautiful, bright planet’s dark problems, we must refuse to be ruled by fear,’ she says. ‘We must discard the belief that we’re powerless and realise that we are infinitely powerful.’
Clover Hogan is a force of nature.
[Read the full article, here.]
Martin Rutte
