Change is in the air. Can you feel it?

I joined the massive, global Fridays for Future Climate Strike in Montréal last week, marching through the streets of our sunlit city with my friend Adri and close to half a million instant soul-mates, wild children of the Planet Earth. Greta Thunberg was there, gracing us with her quiet radiance and uncompromising insight, and she led us forward in every which way, one step in front of the other, hundreds of thousands of times.

Photo by John Mahoney. Montréal Climate Strike and March, 11/19

The thing that struck me most about this massive gathering was the vibe. The calm. It was spirited as we chanted, exuberant as we danced on the rooftops and streets, but otherwise, it was steadfast and serene. The little anger expressed was righteous (Justin: the pipelines!!), and when our voices rose up together, it felt like being high.

SAUVEZ LA PLANÈTE! young people shouted out.

LOVE YOUR MAMMA! cried others. 

This sense of purpose and camaraderie was entirely natural, as we marched and stopped and marched and stopped; slowly, patiently, inching along, shoulder-to-shoulder, through the downtown core.

Citizen groups came prepared to clean up after us, but I heard through the grapevine that there was no mess.

There was compassion, there was love, there was mutual respect.

We, homo sapiens, born out of nature, are slowly waking up to the folly and magnitude of our self-destruction. We can no longer look away; there is no more distraction or escape. The global climate emergency is ours, ours to heal, and die trying.

The most personally moving moment of that remarkable day was when I happened to catch the glance of a woman, standing about twenty feet away. A few electric seconds passed as we looked into each other’s eyes and smiled shyly. Neither one of us was carrying a sign or banner that declared our particular point-of-view, but in that split second of absolute connection, I felt her pounding heart rush into mine.

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My dear people, it’s been a while. Hope this finds you inspired. I would love to hear about your thoughts and actions for the climate, so please comment and share.

Big, huge shout-out and get well and back on the trail to the great humanitarian and US presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders! You are loved.

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