By Stephen Le Quesne
Life is all about relationships, about connection. Love, joy, happiness and a feeling of belonging. These feelings, these times of contentment are what make individuals feel alive and bring people together. Nature too is not really about survival of the fittest, but about connections, working together, interconnectivity and beneficial relationships.
These connections seem to be ebbing away as the world becomes more chaotic. The eroding of the ecosystems that support us, the rise of populism and the language of hate and the focus of individualism are examples of what is driving this disconnection. It is hard to feel and connect when so much is coming our way and we are bombarded by social media, 24-hour news and the constant adverts that tell us to wear this, look like that and encourage us to consume. I feel as if the essence that makes us human, that makes us connect with each other, is being eroded.
As I reach 40, a life milestone, I am beginning to question our systems, our politics and our economics. Have we ever been unhappier as a society? Why do we insist on an economic system that makes people unhappy and which also destroys the planet we live on? Every person that is homeless has their own story of courage and struggle; every individual who feels that taking their own life is their only way out of the black cloud they are living within is a tragedy. We do have the power to change the system, the systems that define how we live, because we made them, we designed them.
The facts may create questions about societal connections and how we feel about our place in the world. Globally, 970 million people struggle with some mental illness or drug abuse. One in four people will be affected by a mental illness at some point in their lives and approximately eight million deaths each year are attributed to mental disorders. According to a survey conducted by The Priory, 77% of men questioned say they suffered with a common mental-health illness such as anxiety, stress and depression, and yet 40% had never spoken about their mental health. The single biggest killer of men under 45 is suicide. When focusing on women one in five 5 will experience a mental illness and 53% of women who have a mental-health issue will have experienced abuse.
Environmental disconnection should also create questions within all of us. Climate change and climate breakdown are here and here to stay. After 30 years of climate summits all we have is greenwash, lots of words and little to no action. Energy-related carbon dioxide emissions grew in 2022 by 0.9%, with global greenhouse gas emissions now being at their highest level ever. The impact is far-reaching, with the US experiencing extreme heatwaves, wildfires raging across Canada and the North Atlantic experiencing its own heatwave. The climate breakdown events are becoming the normal. This news, these facts are exhausting and mind-numbing, but they hopefully leave us feeling frustrated and eager for something different.
Society is starting to move, with words and actions. The MeToo movement, Black Lives Matter, Just Stop Oil, Extinction Rebellion and the Fridays for Future school climate strikes, amongst others, have risen due to our failings to act and target subjects that are at the very core of how we see each other, how we treat each other and how we treat the planet. If you ignore the hyperbole and out-of-context reporting from the political extremes it is important to ask why these social movements are here. MeToo is a social movement and awareness campaign against sexual abuse and harassment of women in the workplace. Black Lives Matter seeks to highlight racism, discrimination and racial inequality experienced by black people, and both Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion are environmental activist groups focusing on the climate emergency. All these groups have come into being to try to connect us to our past so that we can learn from them.
I like the fact that these groups have challenged how I view the world and what I know about human history and have encouraged me to learn more about social justice and equality.
Before I finish writing I would like to say that music is especially important to me. It creates a space in my mind that allows me to be immersed by something that makes me feel comfortable in my own skin, comfortable enough for self-reflection. This powerful self-reflection is what makes us who we are.
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Stephen Le Quesne is a naturalist, conservationist, forest school leader and nature connection advocate.
