Softly Spoken, Loudly Heard - A blog reflecting on the internal journey of Greta Thunberg.
Bold, Empowering, Resilient, and Perseverent. Greta Thunberg leads and inspires with an abundance of care and wisdom that has often been overlooked since she started revolutionizing environmental activism. At the age of 15, Greta began her strike in front of the Swedish Parliament and sparked #FridaysForFuture, which led other students to rally together and strike in front of parliaments across the world in a stance against global warming. Her undeviating values and direct voice cut through the static of governmental inaction and gained her an invitation to speak at the United Nations in 2019. During her speech, she shared her unwavering distaste for the lack of urgency among world leaders to fight the climate crisis. While many stood with Greta and encouraged her voice, others decided to dispute her intelligence with misogynistic, ageist, and stigmatic claims about her mental health. Greta was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and selective mutism at the age of 11 after showing patterns of depression, food restriction, and lack of social engagement. Greta's thoughts regarding climate change started at the age of 8 after she saw a documentary in school that depicted what was happening to our ecosystems. "We saw a film in school. There were starving polar bears, floods, hurricanes, and droughts," Greta shares in her documentary I am Greta. The weight of the world started feeling heavy on her shoulders and sparked the onset of anxiety, depression, and the discovery of her Aspergers. From this point, Greta missed a year of school and only spoke to her immediate family for 3 years. Her increasing curiosity about how to change the world and infinite passion to fight climate change led her to find her voice again and share her thoughts globally. While some choose to see these aspects of Greta as a disability, she proudly shares them as her superpower. Her confidence, honestly witted tongue, unwavering commitment, and outward self-love propel her further than any of the damning voices of hate that troll her. A voice once lost now continues to spark revolutions, start controversial conversations, educate with scientifically fact-checked speeches, and storytelling her causes through books, a documentary, and a t.v series. A voice that was once softly spoken is now loudly heard at the highest caliber.
Greta is an inspiration to continue to find and use your voice no matter what age, gender, or socially constructed box others have tried to put you in. Her story is a vow of encouragement to never limit your potential and future to ideas crafted by society or chains of self-doubt. Check out these links below to discover more about Greta’s perspective on climate change through her new book! https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/446610/the-climate-book-by-thunberg-greta/97802415 47472 https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2021/sep/25/greta-thunberg-i-re ally-see-the-value-of-friendship-apart-from-the-climate-almost-nothing-else-matters https://fridaysforfuture.org/ https://theyearofgreta.com/
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