Dumbo Feather – February 2019

Yeah. The ocean teaches me a lot and it always has.

I wrote this little piece last year about something

that happened one morning that helped me get

my head around what it takes for people to make

a difference on climate change. So I was at Bondi

staying with some friends and I decided to go for an early morning swim. After I was in the

water for a while I realised the waves were bigger than I’d thought and I was almost beyond

my competency as a swimmer. I panicked for a minute because there weren’t many other

people around. So I had that feeling of, “Oh crap, I am out of my comfort zone. Alone. What is

going to happen?” Then I remembered, I used to surf, I know what to do, I can duck dive under

the waves. When I was back sitting on the beach I was thinking about the metaphor there

in terms of people challenging themselves to get off the beach, out of their comfort zone.

But you don’t want them so far out that they’re drowning in the danger zone—that’s where

you see things like people burning out and having bad experiences or doing things that just

aren’t strategic. Not everyone has to be waving a placard outside a politician’s office, although

that is important. Some people have other ways to contribute and everyone can find the way

that makes sense for them. But I think we should all be asking, “What is our comfort zone?”

The kind of values and attitudes and behaviours and beliefs that you’ve always had.

The first time was probably saying no to that corporate law

job and turning it down to instead set up the Australian

Youth Climate Coalition with zero funding. Most people

were very sceptical: “You’ve just finished law school and

you’re turning down all the law jobs and you’re going to

set up a not-for-profit organisation with no money” [laughs]. So it was a big leap into the

unknown. But I also knew how privileged I was. I live in Australia, we have universal medical

care and if all failed I could have moved back home and slept on Mum’s couch as a Plan B.

I didn’t have children, I didn’t need much money to live on, and honestly didn’t have much

at stake if it did fail.

It was just such a clear gap. There was no easy way for young people to get involved in

the climate movement. It just felt like it needed to be done.

Yeah. And then I spent the next five years building AYCC and when I left I was 27. I got

a phone call around that time from a TV producer who wanted to make a documentary

for the ABC, where they wanted an environmentalist to take the former Liberal finance

minister Nick Minchin around the world and try to change his mind on climate change. And

he asked if I’d do it. I thought about it a lot because it was a risk. Even the format of a TV

show that gave equal footing to someone who rejects the science and someone who accepts

it is problematic. But I knew the program had already been commissioned by the ABC so it

was going ahead anyway. They needed someone to do it who could communicate, and then

I was thinking, Well if I do it, if I mess it up, like if I get a scientific fact wrong or if I alienate

I’m interested in your challenge zone when it

comes to this issue. Where have you maybe felt

comfortable and actively put yourself into that

challenge zone. Does anything come to mind?

Do you remember

the motivator?

You couldn’t not do it.

How do you get into your challenge zone where

you’re pushing yourself and starting to make a

bigger impact? But don’t go so far out that you’re

in the danger zone.

I wondered if you’d share the story of comfort zones,

and the analogy you made when you went swimming

at Bondi last year. It’s a really great metaphor for

understanding the lines between safety and danger.

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ANNA ROSE

DUMBO FEATHER