It's past 4am in Amsterdam, and our friend Anna Keenan, an inspiring voice for the global youth climate movement, just posted a few personal, rooted, and forward-thinking reflections on 10/10/10 (first posted on Facebook.)

Taking some time out at 4am to reflect on the Global climate-solutions Work Party of 10/10/10.

For those who don't know, 10/10/10 has been an incredible project, initiated by 350.org (check out their website, now!) and supported by hundreds of organisations around the world – from massive international organisations like Greenpeace to tiny Hulhumale Pre-School in the Maldives.
 

Right now, I've got a bit of deja-vu.

What I'm feeling now is the same feeling I had at the end of the COP15 climate summit in Copenhagen – and no, that doesn't mean that I'm depressed about the epic failure of world leaders to resolve their differences.

Instead, this 10/10/10, like the Copenhagen summit, I have experienced as a great spark, a moment to re-ignite hope in the climate movement, to connect the movement across national borders, and to remember we are all in this together, working for change, even in spite of political inaction.

Because of days like the Global Work Party, I can see the global climate movement in all its diversity and beauty, and I get the overwhelming feeling that, together, we are going to succeed. When I see the pictures streaming in of people all over the world who are changing their lives, their communities, and their political situations for the better, I see a movement of people who are not going to give up.

Just like I felt when Copenhagen finished, I feel now that I am part of a group of people who won't stop when the 'day of action' is over. I know that the 'action' itself must and will continue on, every day, until we get back below 350ppm and into the 'safe climate' range. That is going to take a lot of work. And a lot of time… for the 40 years until 2050, and probably beyond.

On 10/10/10, as I did in Copenahgen, I am re-committing myself to 40 years of action, as part of this movement to find resolution to the climate crisis.

Action happens on all scales – from around the kitchen table, to our workplaces, to our communities and to our national and international politics. Action means creating solutions, educating our communities, campaigning to change politics, supporting those who are affected most, and when necessary, taking direct resistance to fossil-fuelled and unjust industry. I will choose the types of action and the scales of action that I feel are most effective at every stage in the next 40 years.

40 years of effort means a lifetime. It means our career choices, our political choices, and our lifestyle choices. This is what it means to be part of a movement – you can't choose to be part of the movement only once a year, instead it must be something that is always with you. Check in with Gandhi, Mandela, Martin Luther King, Millicent Fawcett, and any number of other great movement leaders of the past, and I'm sure they'd say the same.

Choosing to be part of the movement means changing your life. 

It means facing the facts, even though it would be easier to ignore them and say 'that is someone else's problem'.

It means finding your values and living them.

It means 'being the change that you wish to see in the world'.

It means supporting each other through thick and thin.

It means having the courage to stand up for what you know is right, to do whatever it takes to make change, knowing that the movement has got your back.

With all this in mind, I issue a challenging question to all those who were part of the Global Work Party – and even those who weren't. Don't feel pressured to answer this publicly, as it is a very personal question:

Are you ready to commit yourself to the movement, for not just one day, but for life?

Count me in.