I came across a bunch of people saying solarpunk is just an aesthetic and doesn't contribute anything meaningful and I wanted to share something to counter that. I came across solarpunk in February, a combination of the mess of current politics, covid, the climate and my own issues meant I was depressed, sometimes even suicidal. When I came across solarpunk it helped to wake something back up inside of me. I saw posts saying we already live in a solarpunk world and at first I didn't understand. But then I found my love of sewing and crafts again, my love of nature that had turned to fear of its future learned to live as both. I learned to see the little ways people are making the world better, more solarpunk, Today I walked to the library to pick up some books, one of them is The Serviceberry, it's on my bedside table now. I was wearing a jumper I mended and a tshirt I bought second hand. I walked past the community centre, they're raising money for solar panels and last month they held their first monthly repair cafe. I've learned to notice the ways the world is becoming a better place, everyday I keep the values of solarpunk in mind and I'm a better and happier person for it. I'm still depressed and scared about the world but what I've learned from solarpunk is not nothing, it's changed my life for better
Hey there Sprout🌱 I'm so glad you managed to stick it out and find something comforting in all the gloom. That along, making you feel comfort and hope for the future, makes this entire thing worth it.
When people try to argue we aren't doing anything I fear they may be more familiar with the way Solarpunk exists on other platforms (Facebook and Instagram are particularly Future focused for example) but here I don't find that to be the case at all, we are working on it! And yk what?
Solarpunk does already exist!
It does so as pockets all over the world.
Sure, you gotta look for it but then it pops up everywhere you turn- mending and repair workshops, seed and thing libraries, sharing bountiful tomatoes harvests with neighbors and community murals. Then one day, randomly, a city north of you breaks the world record for largest solarpanel mural?? (These are colored SOLARPANELS BABES!!!)
And then the tiny sparks of resistance show up and you realize you've been doing it all along! That's the beauty of this, to me at least.
And sure, it is only pockets of existence right now. But everyday we're fighting to expand those spaces, to bridge gaps, to introduce and reconnect with one another. We're working on Un-forgetting as Patty Krawec mentions in Becoming Kin (a book I'd 100% recommend if you enjoyed Serviceberry or Braiding sweetgrass)
And your apart of that!! You all are and I'm so proud of you all for choosing beauty and hope even when it's hard to do!
yousharknotpass
germansingergirl
pixelskylines
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