A Word from Jane Goodall

“Don’t lose hope.”

~ Jane Goodall

When Jane Goodall passed last October at the age of 91, the world suddenly renewed their interest in her life and legacy and we were all reminded just how remarkable she truly was. A few weeks afterward, I was on a work call with a colleague who knows me well, and she asked if I had watched the new Jane Goodall interview on Famous Last Words. She said it was one of the most impactful interviews she’d ever seen.

If you haven’t heard of the show, Famous Last Words is a series on Netflix with sporadically released episodes of interviews with cultural icons “filmed before their deaths and aired immediately after”, letting “icons shape their own legacy”. Jane Goodall’s episode was the first to be released.

It took me 10 months to get around to watching it, but when I did, I found myself teary-eyed and glued to the screen almost immediately. I loved the way Jane had to sip whiskey throughout the interview to keep her voice strong enough to be heard, but it didn’t stop her from saying what she wanted to say. I loved how she shared the tenacity and lucky circumstances that resulted in her first opportunity to visit Africa 70 years ago. I loved the way she talked about the nonsensical destruction of the planet we’re all dealing with right now, and the inspirational, practical advice she gave to those of us who want to stop it:

“Don’t lose hope. . . Your life matters. . . Every single day you live in the world you get to choose the difference that you make. . .
If you want to save what is beautiful in this world, think about the actions you make each day. . . even small actions can make a great change. . .
We have to do everything in our power to make the world a better place, for the children alive today and for those that will live in the future. . .
You have it in your power to make a difference, don’t give up.”

She talked about how she tries to reduce, reuse, and recycle everything she can, and that even though it’s seemingly such a small thing, if all of us did that, billions of people, it would make a tremendous difference. One example she gave is that she doesn’t use the plastic liners in hotel trashcans; instead, she puts her garbage in something else like a paper shopping bag and leaves the plastic liners untouched for the next person — a story that made me love her more than ever before. (I’ve been doing that exact thing for years, and my family always thinks I’m nuts for it :)

The interview truly is one of the most inspirational pieces of media I’ve ever seen. Especially the last five minutes, when the interviewer leaves Jane alone to speak directly to the camera and share her own final words with the world. Her final message. I’ll never forget it.

If you’re interested, you can read the transcript of her final message here, watch the entire interview here, or read about her life and legacy here.

I believe her words are especially inspirational for the moment we live in today. Especially in light of what’s coming out about the destruction being caused by the use and development of artificial intelligence. (I saw an article this week reporting that AI executives have now admitted that the “superintelligence potential” could end us all in a decade and they haven’t figured out how to stop it from happening. Is that even possible? What do we even do with that information? Will it finally convince people to stop using AI for makeup tutorials, ugly posters, and ridiculous questions they really don’t need the answer to? Is ethical AI use even possible?)

Whatever we do, we can’t lose hope. We can make a difference. I hope that rings true for you today, my dear friend.

Here’s what I’m reading right now ⤵

WHAT’S ON MY NIGHTSTAND

A Book Club member sent me a lovely “What I’m reading” response to last week’s email that inspired me to abandon my dark, creepy book plans and get back into the Stieg Larsson series I put on hold a few weeks ago. Because sadly, that big, chunky Sarah J. Maas fantasy novel I’d been saving for a rainy day House of Earth and Blood just wasn’t my cup of tea. (Actually, I kind of hated everything about it.) So, it’s been stashed away for now, and I’m already deep into The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Turns out crime novels can scratch a person’s dark and creepy itch too. I just have to finish it before the new Rebecca Yarros Threshing Day comes out on 9/29.

WHAT’S IN MY EARBUDS

Fresh on the heels of finishing The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (classic TJR and a great twist at the end, but overall not 100% my kind of thing), I decided to try a new release recommended in the latest issue of Oh Reader Magazine — Fallow by Sarah Anderson. The book’s premise caught my interest (woman voluntarily signs on as the in-house surrogate mother for a corporation to have 7+ babies in 10 years), and the narrator is great. Admittedly, the first few chapters kind of make me hate the main character, but the story is strangely addictive (like listen-while-you-eat-lunch addictive). I’m nearing the end now. Report back next week.

WHAT’S IN MY MORNING BASKET

I started the whole series of Austin Kleon’s books on creativity all over again this week (I told you I would), and I’m loving them even more this time around. It never fails to surprise me just how much we miss the first time we read something and just how much we catch the second time around. Highly (highly!) recommend all four of these.

WHAT’S ON MY WEEKEND TBR LIST

I’ll be in the car and outside cleaning up the garden heaps this weekend, so most of my reading will have to be on audio. Since I had such good luck with my last new-release pick Fallow (see “What’s in my Earbuds” above), I’m thinking I might try one of these other newly published ones: