Episode 06: Fireflies

Growing up, almost every summer, my family would go to Madison, Wisconsin to visit extended family. The trips were filled with days on the lake, BBQs with family, time with grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, and chasing fireflies. Those magical little lightning bugs. We didn’t have them in Seattle, and there was something so special about those memories standing out in a back yard, or an open field, and seeing the little glimmers of light. It felt like magic. I remember being fascinated by those little creatures. And looking back now, I certainly took those moments for granted.

Going back to Wisconsin now, the field that was once filled with those magical glowing bugs is now made up of a suburban neighborhood. The open space is no longer.

There are many directions I could take this story - reflecting on memories, time with family, those childhood summer nights. What I think about though, is change. Not just the typical change as time passes, but the changes driven by our presence here, on this earth.

I devoted my career to a pursuit of uncovering how we, humans, can attempt to slow, or curb, the dramatic and fundamental shifts in our earth’s climate. The environment.

In my lifetime, I’ve already seen changes - right in front of my eyes. Extreme weather. A new season of smoke. The slow fade of the light of those lightning bugs from my childhood memory.

Too be honest, at times it feels really grim. A hopelessness settles in. Other times, I feel filled with hope. For the ingenuity, creativity, empathy, and power of humans to change, evolve, stand up to the challenge, and attempt to heal the parts of this earth that we are slowly (or not so slowly) destroying.

I suppose what I hope in this moment, with these words, is that we all take a moment to reflect on the change. Our impact. The things that once were. The ways in which our natural environment will never be the same.

Then, take a minute to think about what you can do each and every day to act, to inspire others to care, to act, to get involved. We all have our own unique strengths, gifts, areas of expertise. A special role to play - within the lives we lead each and every day. That could be taking a day to volunteer, asking the place where you work what they’re doing to understand and act on their impact on the environment, teaching children about the earth and how we must take care of it, integrating it into school curriculum, reading a book about it, whatever it might be.

Time is precious, and so is the earth. It will truly take all of us. And, if nothing else, do it for the fireflies.