Here’s what you shared about your shifting ambitions

Gen Dread readers respond to the idea that the climate crisis is changing how and why we work

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Welcome to Gen Dread, a newsletter about how the climate crisis is making us feel, why that’s happening, and what we can do about it. Subscribe now to find community, comfort, and practical coping strategies from experts all around the world.

A lot of you agreed that your work is changing.

In last week’s edition of Gen Dread, we talked about how many young people are questioning the traditional relationship to work, in which you sacrifice a ton of your time, your mental health, your leisure, and your interpersonal relationships in order to climb to the top of the hierarchy.

Photo by Alfred Aloushy on Unsplash

This story seems to have resonated with a lot of you. Many of you let us know how the climate crisis is making you reconsider and reimagine your work. We heard from people across a wide range of professional fields, and we’d like to share a few of your stories now (with permission!). 

And then keep reading for two more interviews with a B.C. therapist and an Ontario homesteader who’ve been monitoring the changes to the environment – and experienced big changes in their priorities as a result – specifically, relocating to smaller, quieter communities that afford a deeper daily relationship with nature, the opportunity to learn practical life skills like growing food, and the chance to teach these values and skills to others. There’s often some privilege involved in being able to make that choice, but the COVID-19 pandemic has made many people’s work far more portable, and often, the cost of living in a smaller place is considerably more manageable than in a big city.

But first, here’s what some of you lovely readers told us!

“The climate crisis has shaped my life for the last 14 years. In 2009, I began studying an undergraduate degree in Climate Change at Coventry University. At the time it was one of the first universities in the UK/Europe to offer an undergraduate degree in the subject. I graduated in 2012, hoping for a green jobs revolution.

After gaining some experience in a voluntary job as a Carbon Research Analyst, I spent four years working in the energy efficiency industry, followed by the offshore wind industry. Yet despite working in relevant sectors – the very sectors bringing about the changes we need to tackle the climate crisis - I didn’t feel that I was personally making as much of a contribution as I could.

Looking at my skill set, I figured that the only thing I could really do was write. So in 2016, I began a Masters degree in Creative Writing. Since then I’ve written articles, blogs and authored children’s picture books about the climate and ecological crises. But writing doesn’t pay the bills, so I’ve also had to get part-time work to make ends meet.

Despite the lower income, the challenges of balancing multiple jobs, and the uphill struggle to find a publisher, I remain committed to writing positive cli-fi (climate fiction) stories, which are grounded in the present. Research has shown that people are creatures of story, and sometimes stories can reach us in ways that statistics and facts alone simply can’t. I therefore hope that writing stories about the climate crisis can engage and educate a wider demographic about the climate crisis.

My life would have followed a very different trajectory if the climate crisis had been tackled when Dr James Hansen first warned the world in 1988 – a few years before I was born.”

Another reader shared:

“It was this constant push to go up, up, up, that caused me to reflect. I had just graduated with a Master's in Bioethics and Health Law, I was going to go into the medical field...until I was told I needed to have a PhD to succeed and continue my path up, up, up. So I took a pause. And I realized that the climate crisis was so urgent and I had always been passionate about it (but thought that because I wasn't sciency I wouldn't ‘succeed’). So I used my skills and strengths to move into environmental work, and I now focus on communicating climate in engaging and accessible ways.”

And here’s another reader’s story:

“I left a competitive PhD program in NYC to go back to my home country and try to live a fuller, happier and healthier life. I've spent the past two years working at a new nonprofit that aims to bring people together, make better public spaces, and create communal joy. I'm still working hard (securing funding for a nonprofit is no joke), but there is purpose and community, it's not all about me, and I feel more belonging on my team than competition and dread. It's been hard to change, but worth it. 

I'd tell anyone struggling in a similar way that it's good to trust your feelings and there are better things out there. Nonprofits are a tough field too, but in our case I think it helps that we center celebration and joy. There are better ways to do nonprofit work, too.

The tough struggle to 'make it' in US academia eventually started looking absurd to me -- in a world shaken by so many crises, why try so hard to succeed in legacy structures rather than make something better? For me, it was the abusive behavior of a professor plus the turmoil in US politics that finally did it, but all the problems are related. The need is so big and there are so many ways to feel useful and more connected. A nice surprise has been that, if you want to do something meaningful, people will support you.”

A young mom learns to homestead so she can share sustainability skills with her new community

We spoke to a young mom of three who’d previously worked as an interior decorator. She recently moved her family out of the Greater Toronto Area to a tiny village in Northern Ontario to start homesteading. She shares a bit about what prompted the change:

“Our sense of unease definitely got stronger and stronger as we watched our neighbourhood change, the seasons start to shift/get hotter and the prices of groceries skyrocket. Between that and the stories of food shortages, fires, floods, earthquakes and war being broadcast on mainstream media daily we realized we needed to act quickly and start our journey towards self-sustainability ASAP. 

We have acreage now and just got some chickens….This spring will be a busy one as we establish fencing and gardens and greenhouses for our homestead. We also purchased a freeze-drier and are in the beginning stages of starting a business so that we can help others plan for their future by providing shelf stable food options while the climate and environment still allow for fresh produce to grow and farmers to produce proteins. Our current ambition is now to establish a haven where our kids and friends and loved ones can be stewards to the earth while following a path to self-sufficiency.” 

She notes that with her shifting ambition has come a corresponding shift in how she’s raising her kids:

“Our kids’ education when they are at home has changed a lot since we have become more weary and worried for their future and their children’s future. We focus less on school homework and instead focus on teaching them life skills. We want to teach them how to grow indoors too in case the climate changes so much that outdoor food production will be disrupted or impossible. We have always been recyclers so that hasn’t changed much but we definitely focus on teaching our kids how reusing materials and reducing waste is imperative.” 

After earning four (!) degrees and starting their own practice, a B.C. therapist makes some radical changes

They share: “

I worked very hard through grad school, and then again to set up my private practice. I just wanted to do what I feel called to do.”

But over the past few years, several forces collided unexpectedly and caused them to completely reimagine their life: they lost their housing in Vancouver due to a sketchy landlord situation; they left a toxic professional environment where they were constantly overworked and disrespected; they had a baby; and the COVID pandemic erupted. Whew.

And like many people, they found themselves confronting the fragility of the world, their values, and whether their days were in alignment with those values. They decided to make a big change with their partner and toddler, and headed for a quiet town on Vancouver Island where they continued to see patients remotely, but significantly pared down their hours in order to be a more present parent:

“We decided to move rurally to see how the lifestyle worked for us. Given COVID made our work accessible from anywhere we had the freedom to move without loss of income. The perfect property came up that gave us a huge yard, lots of older trees (some 60-80-year-old firs) and a massive open area we are slowly converting into a 1/4 acre farm. 

Living in a small village slowed me down significantly. I love my work and I will return to working more someday, but right now it is not my focus. My focus is watching my kid be small. Growing alongside him and our food from the farm. Spending slow days outside. It feels healthier and more sustainable to have outdoor treed space where we can live our days. My ambitions now are to be an amazing parent. To spend time with my child. To exercise outdoors daily. To eat a low-impact diet (lots of plants and locally sourced animal products from small-scale farms). To do my job because I truly love it, but to only work within my capacity and to consistently check in and manage my capacity. 

My goal is to live sustainably in the ways I can which involve being authentic within myself and then outwardly be aware and curious about the impact of my choices. It was circumstance that had us make these massive changes, but it’s a commitment to a very different life that is keeping us rooted here.”

Making Waves

Our friends at Heart Mind Institute have created a free and highly interactive online summit to help all of us deepen and sustain our individual and collective resilience so that we can meet the immense challenges we face with wisdom, compassion and skillful means. There is an inspiring program unfolding from March 14 - 19. Tune in on March 17 for a panel with Britt Wray and others on Climate Change & Climate Resilience. Join us!

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As always, you can share your thoughts and reach the Gen Dread community by commenting on this article or replying to this email. You can also follow along on Twitter and Instagram.

‘Till next time!

- The Gen Dread Team

Britt Wray (Creator + Writer)

Sophie Kohn (Researcher + Writer)

Anis Annisa Maryam (Designer)