 Imagine, cuddly, cute little white polar bear polly, drowning, imagine your young, vibrant little granddaughter unable to go outside and play because the sun has become too hot and dangerous to go outside. Imagine little Mohammed grasping to breathe because the city has become so polluted and his asthma won't allow him to play. Global warming. What causes global warming? Frank, Steven, any ideas? Air travel. What else causes global warming? Greenhouse gases, eating meat, eating meat, refrigerants, AC, bacon, breakfast. You're all wrong. Do you know what causes global warming? Me. I'm to blame. Imagine my little old Canada life. If I want a banana, I have to preheat my frozen car with my automatic click-click device 10 minutes before running to the car in my t-shirt because we keep our houses heated 78 Fahrenheit all year round. And then I have to drive 14 minutes to the closest grocery store and buy a Chiquita banana that has traveled further than my grandfather travels his entire life. And I know I should care more about wasting resources, but, ladies, sometimes you just need a banana split, no? Is that so wrong? It's not bad. And it's not good. And it's me. There's a lot of pressure nowadays to be a green-friendly person, to commute with that weird guy Ron from the office, and to wear Birkenstocks. And I just say, there's a lot of pressure to ask from me. I have a lot of things on my plate already, as do you. I got to do good at my job. I got to calm my mom enough that she's not worried about me. And I have to get married to a rich doctor before I'm 40, right? I don't really have the time to think about these global issues. And then sometimes it hits me. I'm like, OK, I should be a good person. I should make green choices. I should walk from the rail station to Tubman Hall, right? I did. And then I think the world, the hippies, you guys, me, we want us to save the world. But is it really realistic to ask me to save the world? I don't even take the stairs. And so I've been thinking, what needs to shift so that I'm a little bit more aware of what's happening to our future? It's like if you ask me to care about something I don't have a relationship with. We all live in these busy cities with these concrete walls. And when's the last time you put your toes in the warm California sand and smelt the fresh cut green grass in July in Canada? Or felt the gentle caress of New York rain pitting you in the face? It's like you'd ask me, ah, go to Deutschland and go take care of your 95-year-old great-aunt Frau Stoll. And I'd be like, I don't have a relationship with this woman. It's not my responsibility. I care about things I have a relationship with until one day. I open my closet as I'm getting ready for work. And what I see shocked me. I'd never noticed it before. How many bras does a woman need? How many bras do I need? You would think two, but just one. I had nine bras, and three of them were sports bras. And at that point in my life, I hadn't been to the gym for about eight weeks. And that made me wake up. I no longer would be a wasteful, self-absorbed millennial. I'm still a millennial for another year. So I turned over a new leaf. Speaking of getting warm, it's kind of hot in here, no? It's hard to sacrifice, isn't it? It's hard to give up what's dear and near and sexy to us, no? Beef, no more meat, no more cheese. Because them cows, they make a lot of CO2. I'm sure I won't miss pizza. Transportation. Oh, it doesn't want to go. I could probably just walk back to Canada, no? It's like a magic trick. Now, my car, Canada's really big. I could put snow tires and chains on my bicycle wheels. What else? Oh, shopping. Shopping. That's impossible. I don't even think it's scientifically possible. It just makes me feel so pretty. Over-eating. I guess when I'm feeling sad, I could possibly not have to eat an entire package of donuts. Just three crispy creams would be enough. Butter, butter, butter, oh, butter. Nothing can replace butter. Soft, salty, stays with you forever. I have a vegan boyfriend, so even this, it's so hard to give away our comfort. How will I replace the easy things, the comfortable things, for the greener choice, the healthier choice? Do I have the willpower to say no to the easier way and think about the future and the future of our children? There's a lot of pressure. There's a lot of pressure on us, no? A lot of pressure on us to eat clean bro, right, to be nice to those cyclists, and to not use straws at Starbucks. And it's tough. There's a study that helped me shift my ways. The 80-year study from Harvard spoke about the highest predictor of happiness. What could that be? Quality relationships are the number one predictor of having a happy life. I do have a relationship with these things, but do they bring me joy? Can I dance with them? Can I play with them? Can I have fun with them in the same way that I can have with amazing people? No. Loneliness, frustration, and rage are never soothed by things that you can buy. And so how do I get from I need donuts to accepting how I feel and not running to the nearest Walmart and buying away my pain? It's been a long process, and I'm still not there. So what has changed in the last one and a half years? I did give up Wi-Fi, took it off my phone, and out of my house. It didn't make me into much of a more present person, but I do meet lovely gentlemen at the library and the internet cafe, so that's exciting. And what I've realized is there's a lot more that I can do when I'm feeling sad. And this is very close and dear to my audience here today. I propose that when I'm feeling sad, it's much better of an idea to call a friend. I know what you're thinking. What is better for soothing a broken heart than a baguette, a pound of butter, and comparing myself to friends on Facebook? And you're right. There's not much more gratifying than that. And how long does that last for? Right, until your friend posts a live story. So we got to think of a different way. And I propose that we listen, accept, and build. Listen to how you're feeling. Allow yourself to have those emotions. They may be seemingly childish, and yet they're human. You know, I'm not all good and I'm not all bad. I'm me. And so once I can accept that, I can make different choices in my life, choices that will actually benefit my health and my body and our planet. I'm here not to tell you that lots of things have changed in my life and I've turned over a new leaf. But I am here to tell you that in Gestalt's psychotherapy and in applied improvisation, we have a beautiful theory, a mentality that we live by. Listen, accept, and build. So I propose to us, instead of beating ourselves up that we're not doing enough, we're not saving enough children in Africa, we're not rescuing polar bears. That's a social pressure in Canada, by the way. We have compassion, self-compassion. You're doing the best, you're doing what you can right now. And if you could do better, you might be able to. But beating yourself up is contrary to what we need in this world. We need collaboration with ourselves. So self-compassion would be the message that I think is going to revolutionize the way we look at the huge problem of global warming, the huge problem of I'm just one person with one straw and one fork and a lot of bacon for breakfast. And so I encourage us. Relationships are a healthier, low-calorie, pollute-less, sustainable way, and they're even more delicious than doing anything that you can buy at the store. And so I encourage us. Find a friend, talk to someone, play, dance, laugh. And it's going to be better for you, your relationships, and little Polly the polar bear. You've got this one.