So what if your homemade bread is misshapen? Or your clothing mending looks wonky? I’m here to tell you it’s okay to do your earth friendly activities imperfectly. Just do them. It will feel so good to do something, and I promise you’ll get better at them as you practice.
In the book All We Can Save, Mary Annaise Heglar wrote, “What if hope isn’t what leads to action? What if courage leads to action and hope is what comes next?” I’ve found this to be true in my own life. By deciding to take action rather than be immobilized by fear and grief, I feel good about the work being done and hopeful that there is more good work being done in other places and by other people.
Fighting for the world feels better than succumbing to hopelessness. I am not naive about the state of the world, I just have not given up on it yet. And each time I take positive actions for the environment, I feel that maybe solutions are possible.
For me, action comes first and hope comes later. My initial actions are usually messy, uneven, or even unattractive, but they are real, they are worth doing, and with time they bring hope with them.