{"id":1629,"date":"2022-07-17T19:21:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-17T19:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.carboncrewproject.org\/?p=1629"},"modified":"2023-05-19T19:34:29","modified_gmt":"2023-05-19T23:34:29","slug":"interview-with-sara-gordon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.carboncrewproject.org\/index.php\/interview-with-sara-gordon\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Sara Gordon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Socks<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One thing that Sara Gordon and I have in common is that we\u2019ve both seen a psychotherapist to help cope with the concept of planetary destruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Okay, maybe that\u2019s not the <em>only <\/em>thing I went to therapy for, but it\u2019s certainly one of them. During a particularly tough time, my therapist, Sherry, used to remind me of the phrase <em>socks<\/em> <em>before shoes<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s pretty self-explanatory: you must put your socks on before your shoes. Putting your socks on second or forgetting them entirely results in sweaty, blistered, raw feet, possibly housing a fungal infection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Relating the concept to activism looks like this: You must care for yourself before you try saving the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I don\u2019t know if Sara\u2019s therapist ever provided her with similar advice, but our conversation reminded me of Sherry\u2019s <em>socks before shoes <\/em>mantra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sara approaches climate activism with a <em>socks before shoes <\/em>ideology, and she urges others to do the same. \u201cEverybody has to choose when they can and can\u2019t engage in this,\u201d she told me. \u201cIt ebbs and flows, your ability to do this and fit it into your life. That flow is so personal and nobody else\u2019s business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sara has an intimate understanding of this ebb and flow. She considers herself a child of Mother Nature and has always held a deep love for the Earth, but took a backseat in climate activism for several years after the birth of her son in 1992.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI became increasingly anxious about bringing a child onto the planet at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Already well aware of the gravity of our climate crisis, Sara faced the struggles of new motherhood in conjunction with her fear for the world she brought her son into. She knew that this problem humanity created would fall heavily on him and his generation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So Sara took some time off from saving the planet to put on her socks. She nurtured her young son and relearned how to care for herself despite the fear she felt for the future of this planet and its inhabitants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Shoes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One day in 2000, Sara received an offer in the mail for a subscription magazine titled <em>Yes!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt was taglined <em>A Journal of Positive Futures<\/em>, so I immediately subscribed. I opened my first issue and the first thing I read was an interview with Joanna Macy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cShe said something like, \u2018even if we don\u2019t make it as a species, this is an incredibly exciting time to be a human. We have the opportunity and the imperative to make the shift from an industrial growth society to a life sustaining civilization.\u2019 That was so powerful and liberating for me that someone would say out loud \u2018we might not make it, but what an incredible time to be alive.\u2019 Because I felt that it was a terrifying time to be alive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Joanna Macy structured her process, called The Work That Reconnects, first with gratitude, then honoring our pain for the world, seeing with fresh eyes, and finally going forth. Joanna must be familiar with <em>socks before shoes<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis became my drive,\u201d said Sara. With her socks securely on her feet, Sara slipped on her shoes and came back into the climate activism scene kicking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She spent the next couple decades committing herself to meaningful work. First working her way up to receive formal land planning certification, then finding employment with Peconic Land Trust\u2019s conservation planning department, Sara cultivated meaning and purpose in her life wherever she could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She also became heavily involved in education and service-learning, designing projects that advance the curriculum intentions of a class while also meeting a real need in the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And while she was working with Peconic Land Trust and several South Fork schools, Sara was accepted to train with Al Gore on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.climaterealityproject.org\/\">Climate Reality Project<\/a>, learning to present a slideshow version of <em>An Inconvenient Truth <\/em>to members in her home community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then, in 2008, Sylvester Manor hired Peconic Land Trust to plan the conservation efforts of the land, and Sara found herself project managing in the place she found the most meaning: it was a blank canvas, a future she herself could help shape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While working at Sylvester Manor, Sara still finds the time to engage with Carbon CREW, now guiding her third group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Rippling<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With the kind of climate work people like Sara have done, there\u2019s much to be hopeful for. There are millions of people who dedicate their lives to bettering the state of our planet, and that amount of care is reassuring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, like many, I\u2019m concerned about the world my generation is inheriting. With record-breaking temperatures, wildfires, droughts, and storm systems, we know there\u2019s a problem. But why aren\u2019t we acting <em>more<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sure, there\u2019s the matter of money and convenience, but it must be more than that. Money and convenience are factors, but what\u2019s proven even more immobilizing is doubt. Doubt over our ability to fix the greatest problem humanity has ever created embeds hopelessness into my generation\u2019s perception of the future, and if our future is hopeless, what\u2019s the point of acting at all?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is, however, still hope for our future. The inspiring works of Paul Hawken and Damon Gameau have proven this fact. The question is whether this hope can spread as quickly and infectiously as the hopelessness it must displace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If it can, I believe we will be able to drive the cultural shifts necessary to enact meaningful change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sara is no stranger to doubt and perceived hopelessness. Her approach to handling these feelings is one we can learn from, as it pushes her to keep moving despite doubt\u2019s noise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When her mind hammers her with the question \u201cam I even making a difference?\u201d Sara chooses to think of Joanna Macy\u2019s words from an event she attended at Harvard Divinity School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cShe said she used to worry about measuring her impact until she thought, \u2018I can never know, there\u2019s no way to track it, and what does it matter? These are pebbles in a pond, and who knows how they ripple?\u2019 That was so liberating for her when she stopped putting energy into wondering whether she was making a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This approach is empowering because it recognizes doubt. It\u2019s a hat tip and a slight nod to doubt in the street; civil but not engaging. It accepts its presence and continues to move despite it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI have felt like a hypocrite many days,\u201d she told me. \u201cI used to feel if I wasn\u2019t walking the twelve miles from my house in Sag Harbor to my office in Southampton on the highway with a placard saying <em>Wake up! The end is near<\/em>, or if I wasn\u2019t standing on a rooftop screaming about rising sea levels and its effect, that I wasn\u2019t doing enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBut you\u2019ve got to cut yourself some slack. I\u2019m trying to never use plastic bags, but I still use plastic bags. They come into my world, and I give them as many uses and reuses as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAnd then go out and try to make a difference that\u2019s going to inspire others. I have a chance to talk with lots of kids doing field trips at Sylvester Manor now. Planting seeds, throwing pebbles, rippling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The truth is we often can\u2019t see or measure our ripples. Listening to Sara reminds me that this work is long-term, wide-ranging, complex, and lacking in immediate reward. We hope we\u2019re building better communities, conserving Earth\u2019s resources, laying the foundation of a bright future for generations to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But when the question of <em>if <\/em>we are really doing this, <em>if <\/em>our efforts are working, <em>if <\/em>we\u2019re having an impact prevents us from trying, we lose the opportunity to make any difference at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When working with those South Fork schools, Sara wrote a service-learning module called <em>Why Bother?<\/em>. Standing in between a white board and a group of 9th graders, she asked the early high schoolers, \u201cwhat is community? What communities do you belong to?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat would usually go from \u2018I don\u2019t belong to anything\u2019 to a massively inclusive understanding that you have your family, extended family, the block where you live, your neighborhood, school, classes, sports teams. You\u2019re a human being, a part of the universe and everything in between.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sara taught her students that the opportunity to make a difference begins with the people and places we are closest to. Saving our environment, changing a culture, ensuring a home for future generations \u2013 these are indeed our goals. But our environment begins with our home, a culture begins with a practice, and generations begin with one family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>CREW<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sherry, Joanna, and Sara all agree: you must put your socks on before your shoes. But as the necessity to obsess over carbon footprints increases daily, is there really any time for socks? Shouldn\u2019t we all be sprinting barefoot towards net zero before the climate clock strikes midnight?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This idea brings us back to CREW, the topic that connected Sara and me in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen I had this chance to do CREW I didn\u2019t really have the time,\u201d she told me. \u201cNow I\u2019m about to start my third one. I have many conflicting demands of my time but doing CREW makes me feel stronger than not doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The unique thing about CREW is that it helps us put on both our socks and our shoes. CREW isn\u2019t a substitute for therapy, but I have personally found it therapeutic. It\u2019s a way to build community, share information, and it\u2019s helped people like Sara and me cope with the climate crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I think the strength Sara is talking about comes from CREW\u2019s ability to mitigate doubt. CREW answers the question, \u201cam I making a difference?\u201d with attainable goals and measurable impact, all with the support and accountability of a tight-knit community. It recognizes both disappointment and encouragement in the environmental space, acknowledging doubt while providing you with the tools needed to cultivate hope and inspiration in your daily life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe fact that CREW has such replicability and potential was part of why I felt it was a good investment of my precious time,\u201d Sara said. \u201cIt\u2019s also just been a pure joy. It\u2019s an incredible community building, spirit-nurturing program.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So before you start sprinting barefoot or sit down in defeat, take a deep breath. Grab some socks and comfortable shoes, and remind yourself that there\u2019s time for us to change, there\u2019s hope for our future, and there are people out there who care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you want to find them, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carboncrewproject.org\/index.php\/get-started\/\">click here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Socks One thing that Sara Gordon and I have in common is that we\u2019ve both seen a psychotherapist to help cope with the concept of planetary destruction. Okay, maybe that\u2019s&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1217,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-interviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carboncrewproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carboncrewproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carboncrewproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carboncrewproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carboncrewproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1629"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.carboncrewproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1637,"href":"https:\/\/www.carboncrewproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1629\/revisions\/1637"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carboncrewproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carboncrewproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carboncrewproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carboncrewproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}