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Shaping a Brave New World by Karina Donkers When I was really little I use to have this feeling that I didn’t fully belong to the time I grew up in. It was like a sense of discomfort I had in my body that I didn’t quite fit into this world. So being little and having these feelings I use to idolise and romanticize 1960s, believing it to be the time of radical change and activism, feeling like my soul was more suited for those times than the one I was born into. I remember when I was younger saying to my mum that I wanted to be part of a movement of change in my lifetime. Being so passionate about social justice and human rights I felt called to be a part of something significant that would shape the world for the better. When speaking to my mum I used this as example of why I would have been better suited for 1960s and the ‘hippy’ era. My mum smiled to herself about my complete stereotype of those times and turned to me and said,
‘don’t worry my love you will be part of a movement, one much greater than the ones that have come before as your future is being shaped by climate change. This issue is going to be your greatest challenge that you will face in your lifetime, you belong right where you are’. Not knowing a whole lot about climate change at this young age, I just stared at her and thought to myself- she doesn’t understand, I really feel like I don’t belong in these times. I then forgot about this conversation and yearning and went on with my day-to-day life. It wasn’t until I was in my early teens when I properly learnt about climate change that I realised she was right, climate change is the greatest challenge of our times. It is a profoundly complex problem that is providing the human race with challenges we have never faced before. It wasn’t until I was in my mid 20s, when I was ten or so years into being active in the climate movement that I realised that this time in history is exactly where I was supposed to be. This time in history is exactly where EVERY single person on this planet who is here now were supposed to be born into. I believe that everyone is needed in some way or another to address this challenge we are facing. Everyone is needed because I believe we are a unique piece of the puzzle for this time and for this movement that is literally SHAPING the story of the human race.
