Hope and Inspiration
We can make a difference
The scale of the challenges facing us can be disheartening. Yet hope and inspiration can be found thorough practical actions we can take and the friendships we form.
Let’s reconnect with nature, take a hard look at our ethical choices in life and work together to make change happen and we can influence others to make positive choices.
It’s not all doom and gloom!
The environmental challenges we face are massive and it’s easy to feel depressed and even demoralised about it.
Yet there are things we can do as individuals and as a community that can make a difference and this website is designed to help us work that out.
If you take a look at the Sinch Journey page you’ll find out about how SinCH grew from the Plastic-free Group which stemmed form the desire to tackle plastic pollution in the seas. The original 2 people became 4 and through discussion and activity the group grew and grew.
Recognising the need for change
It’s tempting to try to ignore what’s going on, it’s so overwhelming and depressing. But the starting point in coming to terms with the challenges is to understand more about the issues and then to work out what we can do, both as individuals and as a community.
We all have personal choices to make and we can also work out who the decision takers are begin to influence them to make different choices. Positive pressure on politicians and businesses has already led to many improvements – but there is so much more to be done.
SinCH is here to help provide useful information and support through the website, Facebook and our face to face events and joint activities and projects.
“The world we live in is a product of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” Albert Einstein
“No-one is to small to make a difference” Greta Thunberg
“In the midst of hate, I found there was, within me, an invincible love. In the midst of tears, I found there was within me, an invincible smile. In the midst of chaos, I found there was, within me, an invincible calm. I realized, through it all, that in the midst of winter, I had found there was, within me an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger, something better, pushing right back.” Albert Camus
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead
Taking action
We can support and motivate each other in working out what to do and in taking steady steps in the right direction.
Much of the battle is changing our own thinking and responses – do we accept the plastic wrapping, do we really need more “stuff”, does it really make us happy?
But we don’t all need to be Einsteins to make a difference and the more positive, achievable steps we take the better it feels. To coin a phrase, let’s take back some control here!
Reconnecting with nature
We all come to see that things need to change in different ways. Our first blog reflects on some of the motivations at work.
Please check out some thoughts from Rob who in his blog takes a more spritual approach to understanding the challenges and the changes in thinking required.
It is increasingly common to feel that we have lost our connection and that something inside us has been lost – or, in fact, mislaid. Something of the “wisdom and harmony” Rob mentions in his piece.
SinCH runs a series of Green Walks and other activities to help us reconnect to nature.
We are also encouraging people to support the local Help Nature Thrive campaign by identifying and logging nature sightings – please see our blog on this for details and how it helps connect you to nature.
Sadly our decision makers tend to take a short term view and don’t see the connections between things. We need to appreciate that the planet is a system and if you change one thing you may change other things adversely.
A good example is how the intensive farming model of the last 70 years has transformed the countryside for efficiency and to deliver cheap food but has degraded the soil and destroyed the biodiversity upon which the system depends.
Staying Positive
However, positive things are happening all over the place but we don’t hear much about them in the media.
As individuals we can “dig deep” in ourselves but we can only do so much. Governments, scientists and businesses all have a massive role to play in tackling the structural changes needed in the economy and technology. We need to find ways to keep putting the presssure on them to do the right thing.
We mustn’t forget that there are lots of positive stories out there about how comunities are responding and how new technologies are being developed to help.
If you want to delve much deeper into the issues and trends a very good place to go is Dave Borlace’s YouTube channel Just Have a Think.
The BBC’s Costing the Earth radio show is also worth dipping into. Michael Mosley’s BBC podcast Just One Thing is all about improving health & well-being and is well worth listening to. Tim Spector’s Food for Life series is also an eye-opener.
Please send us links to resources you have found.
Focussing on what makes us happy
We live in times which are confusing and the speed of change and “noise” and distraction seems to be is everywhere. This sense, of course, is not new – the Victorians complained about the very same thing. Rob’s piece quotes an epic poem from the 12th Century which could have been written yesterday.
Perhaps in a strange way climate change, Covid and geopolitical tensions help us recognise and be thankful for the small things in life which truly make us happy.
SinCH firmly believes that fostering connections between people and making positive change together at the local level is the way forward.
Please join us in making this happen!
