Apathy and anger

I know that I am guilty of pushing down and ignoring the pain caused by ecological destruction because it just feels too big, it feels too uncontrollable.

I recognise the privilege in my avoidance. I become apathetic in my thinking, what can one person do to help against industry, capitalism, colonial thinking and human need and desperation that causes such an impact on the earths surface and the peoples animals we share the planet with.

Ever since I was a child I have felt despair at the idea that we are somehow above nature and have the right to do with the planet what we wish to with little thought for what was there before. But I have also felt overwhelmed by the grief of the devastation we leave behind us, to the point that I can sometimes barely make myself turn towards it.

The events of the last week forced me to confront my overwhelm. Discoveries that inescapably reveal the horror of recent and present day colonial practices simultaneous with the continuous economic greed powered by this colonial thinking which feuls the devastation of ancient forests. I know this stuff is happening, but I don't always face it. Anger is not an emotion I am super comfortable with, but it is an emotion that has always come out in my art, and more recently I have been able to use my art to consciously channel it.

Art is a vehicle for change, it makes us move, it makes us feel, it makes us confront our realities. Anger of course has limitations, but it can be the backbone of change, when we feel anger we are no longer in a state of apathy. We must collectively move out of apathy if we are to make the necessary changes to this world.

I say this as a reminder to myself as much as anyone else.