Climate Action Teams: The Nine Lives of CATS
Olympian Fields of Action Series #16.5; How CATS Help with Movement Longevity
Because domestic cats have a tendency to get themselves into trouble, we joke that they have nine lives. Well, we could use some of that longevity when it comes to CATS or Climate Action Teams. I leave it up to each CAT to determine what their nine lives constitutes!
CATS can help with the long enough dimension of climate action, our seventh characteristic/imperative/goal of the Climate Movement, by helping individuals increase their length of active engagement.
However, if there is one Achilles heel of Climate Action Teams it is their longevity. To be honest, some CATS may not fulfill their potential on this score. They may not even make it to the Olympic Trials and compete on their Olympian Fields of Action. In other words, they may not fulfill their potential on any of the seven essential characteristics and goals of the Climate Movement because they don’t exist long enough or are dysfunctional to the point where they cannot achieve anything, wasting precious time and talent — snuffing out many of their nine lives all at once.
If passion is not combined with humility, if narcissistic “righteousness” masquerades as a search for justice, if morality is just another word in service of getting one’s own way, if creativity cannot or will not help in achieving our vision, purpose, and Major Goal but is trapped in its own vanity, if our choices don’t bring about the fullness of freedom but rather its opposite, if love is not true to itself and the achievement of justice not its aim, then such a CAT will actually impede needed progress.
In such cases it should be dissolved quickly and individual Artist-Athletes should find or create a new CAT that can make it to their Olympian Fields of Action and help our Movement become the greatest and most long-lasting social change movement in the history of the world. The kairos-climate-clock and the success of our vision, purpose, and Major Goal demand it.
Remember, though, that action-types, justice-types, those who push for change, well … we can be strong-willed, bull-headed, hot-blooded, arrogant, and a whole lot of other traits that make relationships bumpy and challenging. So if you see potential or diamonds in the rough, have the wisdom not to pull the plug prematurely. It may just be that the litter box needs a good cleaning!
The Climate Movement, just like all social change movements, is and will be a bit of a mess. But it’s our mess. Organic messes are fine. Toxic dysfunctional ones are not. It can take wisdom and patience — but not too much patience — to know the difference.
Even healthy, well-functioning CATS may last just a few years, but in that time they kept their Artist-Athletes at it. And as one CAT’s season comes and goes, you are free to join another one! CATS may not last as long as organizations, but they still can increase the time individuals devote to organic and strategic climate action. They can also forge friendships that last a lifetime, friendships that can help our Movement in a future we cannot yet see.
CAT Promise
Finally, let me suggest a Climate Action Team Promise that each Artist-Athlete affirms. It should be made publicly in front of your Team and possibly others.
Members promise to:
Show up and see each other regularly face to face (or screen-to-screen).
Show up and grow The Climate Movement by having others join your CAT, or if the CAT is full, start another CAT.
Show up and affirm our Ten Movement Values: love, justice, beauty, freedom, creativity, wisdom, pragmatism, non-violence, sustainability, and success.
Show up and nurture organic change within your CAT as you value and call out everyone’s gifts and creativity.
Show up and grow together and support one another in our commitment to our vision, purpose, and Major Goal: overcoming climate change by creating a just and prosperous sustainability that enhances wellbeing for everyone and everything.
Show up and regularly participate in collective action.
Show up and work together to help create The Climate Movement into the greatest and most long-lasting social change movement in the history of the world.
Show up to stop bad stuff, set wrong right, and make things better and our future come faster, thereby making hope happen.
You may have noticed a theme: you gotta show up!
Who is the Promise made to, whether implicitly or explicitly?
Yourself
Your family
Your friends
To everyone you love
Your Climate Action Team
To all who have been and will be harmed
To what is greater than yourself
It may just be that being a part of a Climate Action Team is the greatest thing you’ll ever do to create a better world.
When all is said and done you will look back and realize that in becoming a creative Artist-Athlete on your Climate Action Team you made a contribution you could never have done on your own. You will see that your CAT called forth from you gifts you didn’t know you had that transformed the rest of your life, taking you in directions and towards achievements you never thought possible. You will see that being a part of your CAT gave you the courage to live out your values, to put yourself on the line for the greatest cause of your life, the greatest cause of our time. Thanks to the support of your CAT you were there. You were where you were supposed to be, making a contribution only you could have made. Instead of an absence, you were a presence, a glorious, faithful presence that made a difference.
When all is said and done and you look back on your life you will see that being an Artist-Athlete on your Climate Action Team was one of the things that helped make sure your life meant something, that your being on this earth mattered. You were part of something beautiful that made the world a better place.
Ours is a time for regular folk to become heroes together. Nothing less than greatness is our calling. Being a part of a CAT can make this a reality.
So Join The Climate Movement and create/join a CAT!
If you are new here, check out our Intro Series, and other posts in our CATS Subseries. If you like this post, please “like,” comment, and share. And thanks for all you’re doing.