WATCHING the intense bushfires on the TV in early 2020, I burst into tears with fear. My 10-year-old son’s eyes were fixated on the screen, silent. What was he thinking? He is a nature lover. Was he grieving? My mum was comforting me on the couch whilst we were seeing the significant and direct impacts of climate change. The smoke affected everyone and increased the frequency of my headaches. She has always known that the impacts of climate change are devastating, but it was in that moment that she realised that reading the news and being an ongoing bystander would not halt climate change.
The increased severity and frequency of these types of weather events affecting people close to her made her realise that urgent action was imperative. But what action should she take? Where should she start?
As a child, my parents never spoke about political issues around the dinner table eating meat and three veg. Politically and socially conservative, they valued a good education, and sacrificed a lot for my sisters and I to go to a private school.
