Field Notes
Field Notes
Ep 62: Autumn Ricksecker & Flo Wright – Life-building in a time of ecological crisis
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What is it like to be in your late 20s and making major life decisions in today’s world? Studies show young people understand themselves to be living in a highly unstable world where biodiversity collapse, climate change and economic uncertainty have direct impacts on daily life. Sociologists note long-term planning around the linear milestones of previous generations - education, career, marriage, mortgage, children, retirement - has been replaced by a strategy of resilience based on community, mobility and immediate environmental action.
In this episode of Field notes we talk to Flo, a masters student in London studying societal and environmental psychology planning her wedding, and Autumn, Writer and Content Creator at A Rocha International who gave birth to her first baby in the midst of extreme wildfires in her home city of LA. They are bright, full of integrity and courage, and are each in their own ways building lives which shine as beacons of hope.
Hello, and welcome to the Field Notes podcast from Arosha. I'm Joe Swinney and I'm Director of Communications for Orosha International.
SPEAKER_01And I'm Rick Fah, and I've been with Arosha for 20 years as part of the Orosha Canada team.
SPEAKER_02For many of us, the rapid loss of our planet's biodiversity, increasing inequality and poverty, and the changing climate can feel overwhelming.
SPEAKER_01So it's our hope that in this podcast you will hear some remarkable and original perspectives from people we know who are working to care for creation around the world.
SPEAKER_03There's that quote which says, if the world was ending tomorrow, I'd still put out my apple tree today. And it's just about having your heart posture in the right direction.
SPEAKER_00She is the most energetic, joyful toddler who I can't imagine not being in this world. She just gives me so much hope. The choice to have children is really like a radical act of hope.
SPEAKER_02Welcome to a new episode of Field Notes. And today we had two guests, both um young women in their 20s, both with big life events ongoing. Sorry, let me fly again. Welcome back to Field Notes. And today we have the tweet of the company of two young women in their 20s. Flo is a master's student in London. She's studying societal and environmental psychology at LSE and is about to get married. And Autumn is the comms coordinator for Arussia International. So I spend a good deal of time with Autumn, mostly online because she is based in California. And we had a very interesting and uplifting conversation about what it is to be at their life stage, caring deeply about the state of the world, very aware of both immediately in their own lives, but also more on a global level about the different crises facing us, climate change and the collapse of biodiversity. And yeah, we just had a really, really deep conversation, I'd say. Rick, anything in particular that you'd want to pull out before we dive in?
SPEAKER_01Yes, absolutely. As uh a father of a woman who's entering her twenties, uh, this conversation resonated in a particular way for me. Um it struck me, first of all, a theme might have been like living in accordance with with your values, that that was definitely a theme in this. And I see that it both in our guests and and certainly in in my daughter and others, I love the way that they called out the one of them. I one of them mentioned the the need for challenging emaciated imagination. Uh, we need to like I love the way that they are embodying that. They're embodying a way to live with uh imagination that isn't locked into kind of status quo. And lastly, I would say I found myself um like I was encouraged as someone who is of a different generation by the folks in this generation, but not in the kind of flimsy or kind of shallow way of like, oh well, the kids will fix all the problems. Like, I don't I don't think it's that. It's more that they're they're engaging, they they're kind of they're in gear. If I use the the kind of vehicle metaphor, like they're not in neutral, they are they are fully engaged, and uh that is hopeful for me, but I think it's also hopeful for planet, even in the in the midst of me, me not wanting to like shove all the problems on onto the them, but uh it is heartening. I think maybe that's the word I would go with. I found it heartening. How about you, Joe? What did uh what did you walk away from this conversation with?
SPEAKER_02I mean, they're very they're both of them very engaging, attractive people. The way they're living is yeah, the way they're living is very authentic, but also very joyful, I would say, and creative. Um I felt listening to them just re-energized to keep going. And I think I can imagine their friends, their communities, their churches, their elders being really influenced to stay engaged, like you say, to keep in gear and not drop out and not give up just just by being around them. So I I really loved this conversation and it's really fed me. I think our listeners will have it too.
SPEAKER_01So the way we like to start our Field Notes podcast is with a kind of opening question to orient us to where our guests are. Uh we get to interview people from all over the world, so it's useful for us to get a sense of where you are coming from today. So, so autumn and flow, um, both of you, we'd like to hear something about where you're coming from today. In particular, if we happen to be with you this afternoon or tomorrow, and you said, hey, let's go for a walk, and you took us to your favorite little green patch or or something like that. Where would you take us and what would we encounter? What sort of wildlife is near you?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, thank you, Rick. Um, I am in Los Angeles, California, in the United States. Um, the traditional lands of the Tongva or Keach Nation and Pasadena specifically. So I'm right in the valley of the San Gabriel Mountains in a really special area where uh even though Los Angeles is a really huge sprawling city, we also have a lot of wildlife interactions, like especially coyotes and skunks and possums and things of that nature, but also even bears or cougars or most especially mountain lions. Um so yeah, where I'm at, um where I would normally take you is currently closed because of the fires um in 2025. Um, we're still really uh recovering from that, our wild spaces, but um recently reopened is Mount Baldy. So I would take you to the San Antonio Creek and perhaps pick blackberries and um enjoy the many plants, animals, and birds that can be seen here.
SPEAKER_01Thanks, Audin. That sounds lovely. How about you, Flo? Where would we go if we were near you?
SPEAKER_03Hi, so I'm based in London in the UK, and I guess similar to autumn, although it's a city, London is actually very green. I'm really blessed that there's a lot of green spaces near me. Um, my favorite place that I would probably take you to is what we call the Parkland Walk. It used to be a railway line, and but it got converted into a kind of wildlife reserve, and it's been like that my whole life. I used to walk along it to school, so I've seen it go through the seasons in my whole life. Um, I think it's got over 300 different kinds of wildflower, which is amazing. Oh, wow. Um, it's also a really famous corridor for bats in the night, and so they're not allowed to put street lamps in there, so it's closed overnight because um there are bats going through, which is amazing. Um, yeah, you're not gonna find anything as fierce as what autumn's got, but we've got boxes, which you will find in kind of like twilight, um, which are still quite exciting to see, and then classic British wildlife, you know, pigeons, squirrels, but yeah, a lot of biodiversity in the park and walk, which I love.
SPEAKER_02So we've um we've called you here for this conversation, both of you, because um you're a similar age and stage, and you also are both wildly passionate about conservation and creation and the environment. And we'd love to hear a bit about how that started for you. When did it go from a background issue to a foreground, if it ever was in the background? Um, yeah, maybe we start with Flo this time.
SPEAKER_03Sure, yeah. So I would say the language of creation care didn't really come to me until a bit later. I started caring a lot about climate change as a teenager. I was very much part of that youth strikes for climate movement inspired by Greta Funberg when I was still a teenager. So that's kind of the first thing that caught my attention. But then what sustained me and what kept me going was training and input from Christian organizations like a Tear Fund and Christian Aid, um, who really taught me that actually this is something that connects to my faith, that yes, this is a justice issue, and Christians are called to seek justice, and also how much we're instructed to care for creation. And I think, yeah, that's what sustained me to keep going with this and to really connect it with my faith, and rather than just be something I was passionate about as a teenager that I then moved on from.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, for me, I um I grew up in a very natural area in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. So spending time alone in nature was a really important and sort of magical part of my childhood. But it really wasn't until adulthood that I put language to the problems or you know, the threats that nature is facing, um, and what's to be done about that. And so I think like many people in the Rasha world, I first heard Peter Harris give a talk at a conference, uh, which really made, yeah, just made that connection for me from my faith and in a creation care point of view, and also seeing how human flourishing depends on it, um, and got stuck into a Rosha ever since.
SPEAKER_02And just for those of you new to Arosha and new to this podcast, Peter Harris is one of the founders of Arosha globally, and he gets everywhere and speaks very persuasively. Um and he's also my father.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's a familiar story. There's few of us that have that aspect in our in our Arosha story. It's true.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01One thing that isn't always true though, is I I'm I'm curious that uh for both of you, you've you've hinted at how your Christian faith has shaped how you are engaged with ecological and climate issues and so on these days. That's not always the case. And so I'm curious about how your faith has shaped you and how you how that how your faith has influenced how you think about these uh pressing issues of our day. I mean, that could be emotionally, that could be spiritually, that could be uh in whatever way. Um, Autumn, take that one first.
SPEAKER_00Sure. I think um having a Christian framework to think about these things sort of makes sense of the issues where it's a sin issue and that there's like a brokenness to the world and uh greed or pride that humans um just fall to easily that has caused or yeah, that that leads to to these major problems that we see in the environment. Um but it also gives a framework for hope um and understanding that more than I ever could, God cares about the suffering of lands and waters and all the creatures he's made. Um but also I think just in the way that I like move around and interact with the rest of nature, uh is formed by faith in that I I want to have a sort of enchanted view of the world or a sacramental view of the world where God gives us creation as a gift, um and we take it and live in it and then give it back to him as an act of worship and and to glorify God.
SPEAKER_01One little follow-up there, Autumn. The the notion of sin vis-a-vis ecological issues is seems pretty obvious to me. Um, but it's not a popular thought in our world to to speak in terms of greed or various ecological problems as rooted in sin. I'm curious how you found if if you've used that language elsewhere with other people and how you found the reception to that.
SPEAKER_00I mean, I do think I think people understand greed as, you know, there's sort of this capitalist extraction of lands and waters that is just the the momentum behind that feels unstoppable. Um and I think sometimes we like to point at certain people or institutions as like that's the the evil one that's causing all this. But when you understand it as a sin issue, um, there's like more of a corporate responsibility that we all feel. And there's something really kind of terrifying about that. Um, but also really I think that that does make sense and resonate with people. So I I think um, you know, with someone not in a Christian worldview, I I do think there's part of that that like really resonates and makes sense, but also part of it that is sort of countercultural.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, they might not be the literal word sin, but they would probably recognize human misbehaviour and wrongful, like out-of-control cravings that that are in each of us, the tendencies and the at least the potential in each of us to do terrible things in the right circumstances. Yeah. Very few people would claim to be flawless themselves. They might not say and fallen short of the glory of God.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. But it's hard for people to take responsibility. That's the part that I've noticed. Like it's somebody else's fault as opposed to like I'm a part of it. That's the that's the thing that I've encountered at least.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and like I am my brother's keeper, and we're responsible for each other.
SPEAKER_03This conversation's really interesting. It's linking in with my degree a bit. So um, I'm a psychologist, and we try and think about these kind of things from a societal level, from a big picture level. We often talk about um leverage points. So a shallow leverage is just like, oh, trying to encourage one person to pick something vegetarian one day, and then a deep leverage is like, oh, what are actually like our sacred values and what's our intent? And I think what autumn was getting back at is that a lot of the deep values behind of our governments and corporations, sadly, is driven towards growth and capitalism and efficiency and extractivism. And whilst that is the like core mindset of so many of our corporations, we're never going to get to that place where people and planet are flourishing. And actually, I think that's where Christianity has a lot to say because it says, no, um, yeah, we need to be putting people first, we need to be putting the vulnerable first, and we need to be caring for creation. And actually, if we can communicate that, we get to a deep leverage point in just communicating with people. So um, when I was at university, I was I was very keen. I was on as many society committees as I possibly could be. Um, but I helped run a climate justice society and also a Christians in social justice society called Just Love. And I actually found it easier to persuade people to join the Christian Social Justice Society because we had those shared values and because I could get them to understand our intent. And I remember there were some amazing moments when, as the Climate Justice Society, we put on a protest and we managed to get like 50 Christians to show up because of the social justice Christian Society. And that was just an amazing reflection to me about how our Christian faith um can really bring us together and give us a community to act within, and um, just how important it is that we have those shared values and our shared faith in a God who made this world and loves this world and calls us to love it as well.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it seems to me it's the the fact that as Christians we can talk about these issues as sin might be an asset, it might be helpful that we maybe too often shy away from. And what you're illustrating is that actually it can be useful and and evocative and compelling for people, whether they're of faith or not.
SPEAKER_00Uh well, also in a Christian worldview, there's also the space for repentance and return. Yeah. That's right. Like turning away from the sin and resolving to to live another way. Um and I think I think I like I I struggle with that, you know, in my own self to like really accept um that I'm forgiven and that I can live in a new way.
SPEAKER_01Indeed.
SPEAKER_00Um and I think it's also hard to accept that of each other, like there's a desire sometimes to like punish or hold accountable to an extreme extent. But it's like, no, that's not that's not the end. Like the end is a new world.
SPEAKER_03I think also if we can see climate change as yes, something which we have personal responsibility for and we should ask for forgiveness for that. But actually, once we see it as a bigger problem and more of a structural problem, like almost some people use the language of like structural sin, it actually frees you up from like individual blame and responsibility and helps encourage, like, okay, well, what can we do together? What can the church do together? Um, yeah, rather than where the climate movement has sometimes gone too far in like blaming individual people for their actions, right? And that kind of very like purity perspective to more of like what can we do together within a broken world, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, I'd almost point go to the idea of so often the message is I have to be the savior of the world. And I discover pretty quickly I can't. And if I have to be the savior of the world, then I'm in really big deep duda. Um but part of what the Christian faith acknowledges with with the ability to rename sin and and to accept repentance and uh accept sorry, accept forgiveness when I repent is the I can release I don't have to be the savior of the world. I can participate, but I don't have to be the savior of the world, you know.
SPEAKER_02So changing tack a little bit, um autumn about 18 months ago you gave birth to your beautiful Lydia, and it was um almost immediately very difficult because she was very poorly, and you were in hospital for quite a long time, weeks, wasn't it? And that time you were in hospital, wildfires were literally raging within a mile or two of where you were. And then when you came out, the air quality was so poor. I remember you were stuck in a rim with filters and things on the windows. And just wondering how that very immediate kind of manifestation of this crisis, multiple crises that we are in as a result of our own idiocy and sin, as we've talked about, how's that impacted you? How how are you doing personally um as you still live in the aftermath of that? And has it changed you? Has it changed your outlook on conservation and your faith?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Um, yeah, it's a really heavy question. So yeah, when my daughter Lydia was born, um, she had some medical complications that led to her being hospitalized and having a pretty serious surgery. Um so she was hospitalized for six weeks. And yeah, as you said, Joe, in that time, um about halfway through the fires ignited in Los Angeles. And there were a few specific nights where we would sit and watch the map that the whole city was glued to, and just fire new fires popping up everywhere. And in our friend group text, everyone's thinking, like, where should we go? Whose house should we go to? I'm evacuating, are you evacuating? And it was just insanity and very strange for us to be not at home but in the hospital, um, with our kind of like personal crisis while this, while the city is having another crisis and The skies are red and it's hurricane level winds, and it felt like truly apocalyptic. And it's a very strange environment to sort of bring a child into the world. And I know a lot of people my age feel a lot of anxiety about having children. And are I think all of us are taking that question really seriously in a new way of like, is it right to bring children into this world? Um, and so I was definitely confronted with that in a really extreme way at the right at the beginning of my child's life. Um and there are definitely like decisions with no easy answers, but now she is like the most energetic, joyful, wonderful baby toddler who I can't imagine not being in this world. And she just gives me so much hope and enthusiasm for life, creation, face, you know, everything. And I think yeah, that the choice to have children is really like a radical act of hope.
SPEAKER_01Um let's let's switch to let's switch to another stage of life, which uh um I've been happily married for many years now, 27, something like that. Should do I should do better at arithmetic on my feet. But um uh Flo, you're you're about to get married, from what I understand. Congratulations, that's a wonderful thing, but also a life stage and life change that's you know, not for the faint of heart. It's a it's a big step. Um, I'm curious, as you face and and and embrace this big change, how have your thoughts as a Christian, as and as someone who cares about creation, how have they shaped how you approach the wedding itself, I suppose, like the it's an event, of course, and and all that. But even like a little bit bigger picture, like your married life, uh has this influenced what your you and your uh your fiance are are talking about and planning for.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, definitely. Um, when me and Alex got engaged, we were talking about what we wanted the day to kind of represent for us and how that was gonna like start us off really well. And um the things that were really clear to us at the beginning, we were like, okay, this wedding day needs to glorify God. And this wedding day, we want it to be as inclusive as possible and as sustainable as possible, because there's the sort of things we want to bring into our married life, and we know that we're not gonna do it perfectly, but um, we want to go in with that kind of being like our kind of big values or our big aims. Um, yeah, it's definitely been a bumpy, bumpy ride. Um, trying to get all of my family to get secondhand outfits for the wedding had mixed success. But again, that's where it's about that kind of intent rather than doing everything perfectly. But we have managed to get all of our flowers from the UK and our caterers are all doing kind of local UK um sourcing. So the things that we can't control we're doing, and as much as possible, it's a summer wedding, we're going to be outside, and so that should just be really special. Um, there's a book which is really famous in the UK called The Lost Words by Robert McFarlane, and it's all about words that were taken out of the children's dictionary because they didn't think children um were using them that regularly anymore and didn't think they wouldn't be worthy of being in the children's dictionary. Um, that's words like bramble, bluebell, otter. Um, and it's yeah, it's really a sad thing that these words have fallen out of children's vocabulary. Um yeah, that's where it's become this whole thing, the lost words. So we've also um decided to kind of call our different table names, um, different words from the lost words to encourage conversations about um our connection to nature, and we're gonna write out the poems that Robert McFarlane wrote. Um maybe I can send you guys the details of the book to put it in the show notes. Um that's just as like a little nod to this amazing creation that we're in. Um yeah.
SPEAKER_01Very creative. I make you make me want to attend. I I'm on a different continent, so that that won't happen. But uh that sounds like a lovely celebration day. Um and I love the thought that you're putting into it. That's cool.
SPEAKER_00I love that there's both the kind of practical action of yeah, like being more responsible and sustainable with what you wear, how you decorate, but then also that um just celebrating the beauty of nature. I think sometimes that's missed in these conversations around sustainability, where it becomes like something that's really upsetting and challenging and um stressful, and yeah, you can never get it perfect. But um yeah, to to have this kind of moments of like awe and whimsy and conversations, uh, that's really awesome.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I hope so. Whimsy is definitely the vibe we're going for on a dress board. Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_01Love it.
SPEAKER_02So both of you are in many regards living quite counterculturally. Um, Autumn, we've just moved into a shared housing situation with another family, and I know you love your um native plant gardening, and you're an enemy of the invasive species, wherever it's to be found, um, and flow. Um, you've obviously got a real activist streak and you can pull people together around causes, and um you're living with such integrity, both of you. Have you are there ways that that way of life has been a real positive that you've gained from it? And are there ways it's challenging as well? What's difficult about living in according to those values that you hold dear?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think living in community, both in my home life um and in church life and and life in general. Um, well, uh to explain, we live in a home with another family with a one-year-old. So we're sort sort of sharing life together. Um and yeah, in those scenarios, there's a lot of beauty of um using, you know, you use resources more responsibly, like sharing them and and just kind of sharing life and um gain like ideas and inspiration from each other, um, and a sort of solidarity. And then of course, there's also like sticking points. Um, I have a native plant garden at my church that is just sort of a little patch um that I and a couple others have um spearheaded. But not everyone like fully understands or is on board with the project. Um, for one, it doesn't look as like clean and manicured as traditional landscaping. Um, as my husband describes, it's very scraggly than California native plants, which I find very beautiful, but it's not to everyone's taste, or it may take some getting used to. Um but yeah, we've had issues of sort of non-native succulents appearing, or most recently people cutting the hedges to make a you know defined square shape of my of my white sage. Like, no. But at the same time, like it can't just be a project that's just me like doing my little obsession in this area. Like that's the point of life together. Um, you're gonna have these these things to iron out. Um and it's um yeah, can be frustrating or but it I think it's yeah, that that's life. That's what's that's what's good about life in community.
SPEAKER_01So Flo, um you are clearly active. Uh it does seem like one of your gifts is to motivate and uh rally people to to get on board and not just get on board like with thought, but to do to motivate to towards like changing things and actions and so on. Um I've worked with Russia, which has some of those instincts. I've worked for the Rasha for many years now. And there is, you know, there's lots of energy in that, but there is also a kind of uh at least a temptation, if not a dark side, towards like feeling overwhelmed or getting paralyzed by the scale of problems or getting discouraged by when things don't I can't see the change that I want. Um I'm curious, what has helped you? What have you found that is useful as you try to stay engaged and avoid burnout, avoid giving up?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it's um a great question. And I think that is sadly why I have seen most people leave like climate justice spaces, not necessarily Christians, but it has been because of that burner. And that is really, really sad to see someone who cares really deeply, um, but that it's just they're carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders. Um, I'm gonna say three things. I'm gonna say worship, community, and future. Um, and so when I think of worship, yes, there's absolutely a time to like just go and sing and um just be really uh re-rooted to the fact that actually my faith is in Jesus and Jesus is working through me. I'm not doing this on my own, and that's really encouraging. Um, but also actually seeing my the way I live as an act of worship, say seeing like, oh, my decision not to buy a plastic bottle that day or to turn up at the meeting, even though I was really tired, to see that as an act of worship because I believe I'm living in accordance with the way God wants me to live and because that's a beautiful thing in and of itself. Um and then it becomes less about doing things perfectly and more about doing things because they are the right things to do and because God loves us to do that. Um and there's a quote, this is not from the Bible at all, but there's that quote which says, um, oh, if the world was ending tomorrow, I'd still plant my apple tree today. And it's all about, yeah, that intent. And it's not about calculating what's the most effective action that I can do, what's the most effective campaign I can join, but actually just about having your heart posture in the right direction. Um, and then that's where community is just so important for that. I think as soon as you feel like you're on your own, as soon as you feel like you're taking on too much responsibility, um, you're just gonna fall on your face. Um like I think having Christian friends who deeply care about social justice, maybe not necessarily environmental climate, but who understand the desire to kind of try and bring some of God's love to this world and try and fix some of what is broken and that is so heartbreaking to us. Having those friends is just literally such a lifeline to me. I've been blessed with um so many amazing friends who are also really passionate. Um, but also um future, I think um actually what gets a lot of people down is what we talk about in psychology, like system justification, like the belief that there's no alternative, and that's actually what can be really demotivating. The belief that like our current systems are and the status quo just is is the best option. It's the the least bad evil. Do you see what I mean? Um, but actually, if we can um try and imagine different ways that our world could be, the way that things could be flourishing, even if you don't end up doing those specific ones, like we know in psychology that that opens people up to being more hopeful. Literally being able to imagine alternatives makes us more hopeful, even if that alternative isn't something that specifically is can come into place.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I don't remember. I think it was with um a podcast that we did with Leah Costumer, and she used this phrase, a possible better future. And if we have, even if we have multiple ideas of what that could look like, like you said, but uh but there, but working on the assumption that there is going to be a better future, it's not impossible. Um, it's enormously hopeful. So a question for you, Watten. Have you ever felt misunderstood either by Christians who think environmental concern is secondary to the core concerns of faith, or people in environmental circles who don't understand your faith and think that has no place in their field?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I actually feel I feel well understood in general. Um or at least I don't feel hostility, often in more secular spaces. You know, I think I'll say or I'll I'll explain. I work for a Christian environmental conservation charity, and it's kind of like, oh, okay, cool. And like I've I've never really gotten a lot of pushback of like that's odd, or it doesn't make sense. Um, but it's still, yeah, as I I think it's like a really good witness um that there are Christians who who care about these issues. But I've actually been really like pleasantly surprised by the good reception I've received in church spaces um when talking about the environment. Um both going back to the church community I grew up in and then the church community I find myself in now, I've um found a lot of people just say, like, yes, this this makes sense. And um, how can I do more? Like, how can I plant native plants, or how can we incorporate this in worship, or what shall I read? And um I think I think a lot of people have this, you know, these kind of two loves, and everyone has some kind of a nostalgic tree or place or plant that's important to them, and to reconcile that with our faith is really impactful. Um so I I actually feel pretty optimistic about bringing these worlds together.
SPEAKER_02Well, that's uplifting to hear. How about you, Flo? How does it how does it um land with your course mates and your professors that you are a raving crazy Christian?
SPEAKER_03I mean, I would say sadly, where I have experienced discomfort, it has been in Christian places. Um, I remember going along to uh a church that I was involved with, like in my gap year, so when it was like 1819, and um they did a sermon that said, you know, Christians shouldn't be environmentalists, they should only be evangelists, and we need to focus on saving people's souls and like oh, litter picking is nice, but actually what matters is who's gonna be um in. And to me, that just missed out a whole load of the gospel, which talks about God redeeming the earth and our mission. And yeah, I found that quite upsetting to say the least. I had a lot of anger at the time, which I've now dealt with, thankfully, but it has motivated a real desire in me to learn, okay, why was it that for me, actually the fact that this connected to my faith really motivated me and really encouraged me to try and get other Christians around me. But actually, for other people who I know and trust and believe in the Lord truly are motivated in such a different direction. I know this is happening to a different level in the US, but it's actually motivated my dissertation at university because we're always thinking about, I said earlier, about deeper leverage points and actually how values, intents, beliefs, worldviews are really deep leverage points. And so my dissertation is looking at why is it that some people are really encouraged to like look after the environment, seek climate justice, why that's the story for some Christians, but not for others, and how does that like connect with political and theological? So that's what I'm doing my um dissertation on, particularly looking at what would it look like to try and engage conservative Christians more, and also how can we have a really strong message of Christian stewardship in the UK whilst there's kind of a slightly rising Christian nationalism that started coming in, which brings with it a lot of climate denial or a lot of we need to prioritize the economy over um stupid things like net zero. Do you see what I mean? So that's actually really inspired um kind of my uh uni work. Um, and I've I found um in more like environmental secular spaces that people are actually really open to talking about faith. Um I think they are looking for hope because they're feeling burnt out, they're feeling anxious, they're feeling worried. And when they hear that I'm actually a Christian who's trying to be hope as hopeful as possible, trying to bring light and um saying that actually, you know, this injustice of climate breakdown is not God's plan. Actually, people find that quite refreshing. And there's a a famous story that I like to tell. I I won't tell details, but I had turned up to do some activist stunt with a bunch of people who I met on the internet. So I met them all on that day, and we ended up being denied entry because the security had hacked our Zooms and they knew all of our faces and our names. It was quite scary, and we all went out for pizza instead, and everyone was feeling quite rattled, and I was telling them all about Jesus and why he cared about the planet. And I remember being like, God, I didn't expect my day to go like this.
SPEAKER_01Well, much of what you have referenced resonates. I I recognize aspects of what you're saying in my own context, so it's it's kind of affirming to hear from both of you in this regard. So one of the things that I've really valued about the Field Notes podcast that we do is we always try to glean from our guests uh a sense of like what we can what people do, what what they do to uh engender and cultivate hope in their life. The the the emphasis that uh we point out or we we call people to is not just like the newest whiz-bang technology that's gonna be more efficient and give me some optimism about uh something, but but what are practices, like actual habits of life, what are rhythms that you have found help make you be hopeful, not just feel optimism, but actually be a kind of frankly, a kind of beacon of hope in the world, whether that's just in your own your own like your life, but also for others around you. So I mean, I'm curious what this could be. Uh you guys are starting out in life, all creating all sorts of newness. Uh that's the stage you're at. Um what are you doing or what do you aspire to do that are kind of rhythmic and habits that that will cultivate hope?
SPEAKER_03I think the main kind of practical thing that I really love doing um is sewing. I am a big upcycler and especially I had a big phase of it in lockdown, as many of us do, but um, I do think there is some kind of hope in just taking an item that uh was unloved or had a hole in it or whatever, and actually yeah, giving it new life. I feel like there is something spiritual there. And yeah, it's also just like a real hobby of mine. It's always a good conversation starter. You can talk about something that you've upcycled, um yeah, that's something that I find a lot a lot of joy in and is still sustainable in and of itself.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we talked a little bit about whimsy earlier in the context of a wedding celebration and having a child now. Uh, that's something that I, you know, really wanting to cultivate for her and also for me is just a sort of enchanted view of the world um to yeah, mark the seasons, um, which we do in you know, kind of our own way in Southern California. People often say that we don't really have seasons, but we do if you look closely. Um, you can see it when the in the fall, the buckwheat, which has these beautiful clusters of white flowers, um, will turn this like rust color, and there'll be carpets of rust buckwheat or poison oak, which is a really villainized plant, um, turns the sort of classic fall red. Um and so yeah, it's actually like mark and and live in accordance with the seasons, both in nature and also sort of liturgically um having those go hand in hand is um something that helps me to feel really grounded and connected. Um and lately I'm really inspired by colors in nature. I think we often think about natural tones as like brown or muted green, but at least where I'm at, you know, it's spring, it's wildflower season. So the, you know, our natural spaces are filled with these brilliant colors of neon orange and hot pink and this kind of electric purple and blue and green and yellow. Um and so I'm just really inspired lately by what's in nature, and you really just can't feel like sad or hopeless um when you're surrounded by that, even in just the little patch of the church garden or on the median um between the roads. And then let alone when you go into a wild space um like an intact natural area, uh, I just really feel, and maybe it's naive, but I look around and I really feel like everything will be okay.
SPEAKER_02Well, that seems like a lovely and fitting and hopeful place to land. And um, I wish I could take you two out for a walk somewhere and like just hang behind and watch you and listen in on the conversation for a lot longer. Um Yeah, thank you so much, both of you, for your time.
SPEAKER_01Yes, indeed.
SPEAKER_00Thanks for being us. Thank you for this conversation. This is lovely.
SPEAKER_02Thanks for listening to the Field Notes Podcast. If you enjoyed this podcast, please leave a review and subscribe.
SPEAKER_01And there's more information about this podcast and Arasha at arasha.org. So do join us next time.