2020 – The Year We’ve Been Waiting For!

It feels like 2020 has been cancelled. Work has altered, going out has become a privilege, shops and restaurants have been shut for months and events all around the world have been cancelled.

Yet, staying at home has made us think and reflect on our life and the world around us. With the stop to the ‘normal’ repetitive life, we’ve become aware of all the problems and injustices that occur every day behind our backs; climate change, the destruction of the planet, social injustice and discrimination. We’ve woken up from a very long sleep and are finally seeing that we can’t keep living like this.

We don’t want to live like this anymore, we want a change, we need a change!

Once you’ve seen it, you can’t unsee it. The only things we can do now is to take action.

Pandemic of Nature

The truth is, we’ve gone too far. So many species have and are going extinct because of deforestation, pollution and climate change. We have been meddling with the planet for so long that the delicate and complex food chain is breaking up, natural resources are being depleted and polluted and the planet’s systems, that is keeping us alive, is rapidly changing.

The world is getting warmer every year and we’re finally noticing it. We don’t need any scientific evidence to see that, just step out of your front door.

Isn’t it sad how we needed this pandemic to see that we’ve gone too far? The planet has regenerated so well in the months that we’ve stayed at home. The air has become fresher and the waters clearer. Dolphins and other fish have reappeared on our coasts; wild animals are roaming the streets. The planet would do so well without us, we are the only specie who’s destroying the home we live in, why would we do that? We are the most evolved species on this planet and somehow we are also the most ignorant and selfish one.

#CEweekLDN

This week is Circular Economy Week (1-5 June 2020), an event that showcases the work that has been done around the world to accelerate the transition to a more sustainable future. Cities such as Barcelona, Glasgow, Toronto, Sao Paulo, London and others are inspiring everybody to take action.

These events, that have been going on for three years, are fighting to reduce the global carbon footprint, value our resources, products and services and embrace new and efficient ways of working. However, for it to happen on a global scale, we need everyone to change their mind-set on everything they do. Only in this way, we’ll be able to transition from a destructive linear economy to a circular one that can benefit our lives and the life of the planet we live on.

Pandemic of Discrimination

Race, gender, religion, ethnicity; we live in a severely divided world. To think it all started with the ignorant idea that “I’m better than you”. We think we’re so evolved, so smart but then how can we have such a backward and inhumane perspective on the human race, on our own community?

The murder of George Floyd has sparked protests across the US and the rest of the world. Demonstrators are desperately calling for social justice and to put an end to police brutality.

These protests, outside and online, on land and in the sea are creating a worldwide acknowledgement that we need change and we need change to stay. We can’t keep living like this, knowing that our brothers and sisters don’t have the same rights and opportunities in life. This discrimination and segregation have been going on for over 400 years, it’s time to put an end to it.

“What happened to Floyd happens every day in this country, in education, in health services and in every area of American life. It’s time for us to stand up in George’s name and say: get your knee off our necks,” – Reverend Al Sharpton.

If you don’t know about systemic racism, ask, educate yourself. Sign petitions, make donations, join protests, every single person on this planet can do something to drive change. These activities are not a trend, it’s a movement that will go on until justice will be made.

Solidarity in Surf

Solidarity in Surf is a peaceful protest for the black lives lost to police brutality and racism. This event also sends a powerful message to the next generation showing that only through unity we can achieve change.

This worldwide paddle out if happening from the 5th of June in coastal cities of Santa Monica, Dakar, Sydney, Pacifica, Monterey, Uluwatu, Manasquan, Biarritz, Newquay, Brighton and many more.

Please join the local event on June 13th hosted by RubyMoon, The Holistic Journal and MrBongo records. https://www.facebook.com/events/345198043115394/

 

“Solidarity In Surfing – a worldwide peaceful protest paddle out. The senseless killings of Black & Brown people must stop.

It’s time to set an example of oneness not just on land but in the ocean as well. We are one. It’s time to use your voice to speak out for injustice.

This paddle out is in celebration for the lives lost and the HOPE we have for future generations. This about LOVE for another.

The event time may change as more countries are added.

BGS Senegal & Jamaica are hosting this event along with our allies, colleagues and nonprofits who mould and shape the youth of today.

The time is now to lift each other up. We need solidarity in surf.” @blackgirlssurf

 

Pandemic of Change

It’s time to wake up and act on what we think is right and become the change we want to see in the world.

We’ve had enough, we’ve gone too far.

Let 2020 be the year that changed the world for the better. Let us be remembered as the generation who stepped out from ignorance and egocentrism to make our lives and the life of the planet better and worth living.

 

“What if 2020 isn’t cancelled?
What if 2020 is the year we’ve been waiting for?
A year so uncomfortable, so painful, so scary, so raw — that it finally forces us to grow.
A year that screams so loud, finally awakening us from our ignorant slumber.
A year we finally accept the need for change.
Declare change. Work for change. Become the change. A year we finally band together, instead of pushing each other further apart.
2020 isn’t cancelled, but rather
the most important year of them all.”

  • Leslie Dwight

 

Sources

CEweekLDN

https://ceweek.london/

Image

https://www.lwarb.gov.uk/london-gears-up-for-circular-economy-week-to-accelerate-climate-action-and-contribute-to-a-green-recovery/

Solidarity in Surf

https://www.facebook.com/events/3318089798223746/

https://www.instagram.com/blackgirlssurf/

George Floyd

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-52928304

Poem – Leslie Dwight

https://www.instagram.com/p/CA_CXcBp7Rg/

https://www.instagram.com/lesliedwight/

 

 

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