Sunrise Manifesto

Accompanying text:

“I have experienced a great deal of fear throughout my life. As a young child, I was already deeply and existentially concerned about the state of things, particularly the environment and my own existence within it. Sometimes my anxiety was debilitating, and I was instructed by the adults in my life not to worry, to suppress the sadness and fear I had through distractions.

I grew up managing anxiety this way. When fears arose–about my wellbeing, death and destruction of the world, the unknown–I did what I could to pretend that those feelings weren’t there. There were periods of time when this worked, but eventually there was always some kind of slip-up, like a scary news article or a significant change in my personal life, that would send me spiraling back into ungrounded-ness.

The challenge I dealt with, and which I understand more and more to be a challenge of our collective consciousness, is the tendency to lean away from pain. It wasn’t until the latter half of college that my understanding around this really began to shift, which I credit in part to some amazing healing, activist, and equity-centered communities that I have been a part of. I have come to understand that pain, like power, is not the enemy; neglecting its existence doesn’t mean it will just go away. I’ve learned to lean into discomfort, that this is where personal and collective change blossoms and succeeds.

I do still have an immense amount of climate anxiety and concern about the crises of the present and future. But I also have faith in the power of community and the support we can provide each other throughout all the hard stuff. I am ready to harness my pain–my empathy and my passion–to work deeply and intentionally for a healthier world for us all.”