Under the Sky We Make

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Kimberly Nicholas. Under the Sky We Make: How to Be Human in a Warming World. G. P. Putman’s Sons. New York. 2021.

Reading this book covers a workable way forward after walking through "It's us; it's bad; we can fix it". The author highlights our damaging obsession with the "Exploitation Mindset" and the essential need to shift to a regenerative mindset. One of many similar thoughts floating around.

The last section of the book is a "too long, didn't read" list of the book's key takeaways and actions. 247 pages digested to just 8 pages.

Additional

Notable

To stabilize the climate at any temperature, we have to completely stop adding carbon to the atmosphere.

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Your own suffering is not special. ...Pain times lack of acceptance equals suffering.

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"Lift in, dump out" support those closest to the crisis and vent to those farther away.

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The Exploitation Mindset tends to prioritize convenience and efficiency over other values. But convenience is not a core value that leads to meaning; it is not the point of life.

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Reaching maturity is something like switching from thinking of your life as a first person narration to thinking of yourself as a character in a larger third person narrative... Meaning comes from being able to make the story not about you, but about a larger narrative that goes on after you die.

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Living ethically and responsibly in this era will ultimately involve some painful reconciliation, forcing us to come to terms with the very real costs of some of the overconsumption exalted under the Exploitation Mindset, including jet-set getaways, shiny cars, and fat steaks that may still be filling your social media feeds.

British researchers identified activities to live better and happier while consuming less; the found the best win-win leisure choices are local outdoor activities, reading, hobbies and games, music, and --lowest emitting of all-- "sleep and rest".

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lagom: a sufficient amount is the perfect, most satisfying thing

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Rather than looking for one right answer from some external authority (the one and only, perfect pathway everyone must follow to solve climate change), the task for each of us is more about figuring out who we are and becoming more of that. ... adapting our particular skills, talents, and preferences to our local context to work toward the principles of protecting people and nature, reducing harm at its source, and increasing resilience.

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ikigai: what gets you up in the morning (fun, satisfying and valuable work), and periodically examining if your work meets the criteria as you change over time

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When confronted by new facts, the idea of coming up with a new story doesn't typically occur to [people]: We reach for something off-the-rack, for the comfy, broken-in plotlines of ideology.

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"Climate change isn't a cliff we fall off, but a slope we slide down." [Kate Marvel] There is no bottom to the slope; we will keep sliding until we put on the carbon brakes. Every inch of the slide we don't cede is a victory.

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So what does a good-hearted person do in an [climate] emergency? They look for ways to help, and they pitch in where the can. They assess their assets and liabilities, talents and communities, and figure out how to mobilize them toward protecting people and nature, reducing harm at its source, and increasing resilience. [emphasis added]

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Consider:

Contents

Introduction: Science Won’t Save Us

PART I : It’s Warming. It’s Us.

… How We Got Here

PART II: We’re Sure. It’s Bad.

… How We’ll Get Through Now

PART III: We Can Fix It.

… How We’ll Go Forward

Conclusion: Under the Sky We Make