As far as I am concerned, this is a surprisingly good phase of my life. I would not have thought the 50s to be like that. There are some minor inconveniences, and I still need to get used to getting visibly old … but otherwise, I am a very lucky woman.
However, like many other people in this time and age, I irritate easily. We seem to have lost the positive mindset and the upbeat “let’s do this” attitude.
In my case, it’s definitely climate anxiety. And I get angry because the knowledge is there, the tech is there – but instead of bringing all the sustainable breakthrough innovations to market, we stall. Why?
“I used to think the top global environmental problems were biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and climate change. I thought that with 30 years of good science we could address these problems. But I was wrong. The top environmental problems are selfishness, greed and apathy, and to deal with these we need a spiritual and cultural transformation, and we scientists don’t know how to do that.” ~ Gus Speth.
I tend to agree with Gus Speth. And because of that, I do not believe in technology being the solution. Plus, I regard one aspect of apathy being the culprit – the “oh, we are so guilty and so sorry, but it’s too late for us now, we need someone else to solve the problem“.
It is not about generation blame management, and it is not about AI. It is about now, it is about us, it is about mindset. Therefore, my mantra for this decade is:
Wake up. Kick ass. Be kind. Repeat.
Does not work every day, does need training, but is a very good reminder to enjoy being alive.