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About five months ago, I picked up this book with a title that drew my attention and a subject matter that I had been struggling with for the past several years.

Week after week, I would glance at the book sitting on the shelf and tell myself that I would start reading it tomorrow. But after many tomorrows passed by and the book was still just sitting there, I was beginning to wonder why I bought it. 

After spending the last seven years writing and speaking about climate change, I found myself experiencing more sadness, frustration, anger and even periods of depression worrying about the future of our planet.

Not only was the information and news about climate change getting worse but it appeared that the world didn’t have any sense of urgency in responding to what appeared to be evolving into a climate emergency or climate crisis. It was simply more difficult for me to be optimistic or hold on to any sense of hope about tomorrow.

And through the years, it was getting harder to find those moments of happiness.

So, a few weeks ago, I finally decided to pick up that book. The Courage To Be Happy is a conversation that takes place between a philosopher and his student.  Written by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga, this book explores the path we can take to find true happiness and “choose happiness in the chaos and messiness of everyday life.”

The authors talk about how to let go of the past, create the life you desire and identify those infinite possibilities to “become the master of our own destinies.”

Kishimi and Koga propose that in any given situation we must not “blame the bad person” or “plead poor me.”

We need to ask - “What should I do from now on?”

When thinking about climate change, I was spending alot of energy and time focusing on the bad people in the world who were creating the climate change and poor me as the victim.

Holding onto a sense of entitlement and even justification in blaming others and feeling sorry for myself, it became clear that I was dragging myself down - emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually.

I was being weighed down by what I didn’t want to see happen instead of moving forward and toward what I wanted in life. Ultimately, I simply wasn’t the best version of myself.

The authors talk about life being a series of moments where you are finding ways to contribute in each of those moments, looking for connections with other people and exploring opportunities to be beneficial to the community, without any worries about being recognized. They encourage us to find joy and happiness in the feeling of contribution.

For myself, I realized that I had to keep my eyes on the question - “What can I do from now on?” and, at ‘the same time, stay focused on the present moment.

And then as I began thinking about our city, it was very apparent that we all needed to keep our eyes on this present moment and explore what Duluth can do from now on to address and respond to climate change.

We definitely need more information and news about climate change. We need more programs about climate education, especially in the high schools and colleges. We need more support services for young people experiencing climate anxiety and depression. And we need more community conversations about climate change and its impacts at the local level with city hall and county government.

We also need more citizens participating in community initiatives and actions, and getting involved and supporting groups like the Duluth Citizens Climate Commission.  Already, the Commission is exploring the opportunities for supporting the city government’s efforts to hire a new sustainability officer, promoting climate education, hosting a town hall on climate change and organizing a summit on mental health for young people. 

What can you do today and tomorrow to help our city address climate change? How can all of us change our personal lifestyles to lead more sustainable and carbon free lives? When can you dedicate time to work with local and national groups addressing climate change and helping the environment?

The courage to be happy comes from those moments and opportunities where we can contribute to our city’s health and welfare through our collective efforts to address climate change and hopefully create a more sustainable and resilient Duluth for everyone.
What will you do from now on?