23rd October 2022

Yesterday was spent glued to a series of zoom talks on the 'Festival of Well Being', the blurb describes it accurately - illuminating and uplifting talks from visionaries, change-makers, and hope-bearers. 

Yes I was happy to be in the company of erudite clever people who cared about the world and set out to fight for what they believed in.  Pish to 'Little Englanders' who moan at disrupters, they may be a nuisance but without them in the background drawing attention to the actual state of the world where would we be??  Did anyone take note of the billion animals that died in the fires in Australia, the flooding in Pakistan.  Pretending it is not happening is just not on.....

Ed Milliband's half hour was taken up with answering questions, a committed environmentalist, everyone was enthusiastic about him in the messages, why do we not hear the message of such people from the Labour Party?

Naomi Klein and Bill McKibben were the last speakers,  Klein whose books are heavy reading had little to say but McKibben was more hopeful.  Deborah Meaden of 'Dragons Den' fame gave a talk.  Professor Nicholas Stern I think started the day. Names pop up David Lindo - The Urban Birder.  Lindo did his talk from a church on the little Island of Lundy  where he was obviously birding.

Professor David Goulson on insects, you can see his book above and to whom I will listen again when they release the talks next week. A favourite for me basically because he has started a bumblebee trust.  There were others, an activist, perfectly keyed into an academic future but giving it all up and taking to the streets because she could not stand by and watch science be trashed.

It wasn't Stern who started the day but Satish Kumar, one of the founding members of the Resurgence magazine, and now grown old with time but still optimistic.

So yes, if we can be arsed to fight, there is hope for our Earth but it means great changes along the way.

I still sing "The corn was as high as an elephant's eye'