Let our children’s crayons lead

By Peggy Liu | July 28, 2021

Peggy Liu is Chair of China’s leading environmental NGO, the Joint US-China Collaboration for Clean Energy (JUCCCE). This is her submission for Our World in Your Hands.

Dear world leaders,

Stop struggling so hard,
and simply dream.
Dream of a future where all can live without struggling.

Us humans. The trees. The grasses. The bees.
All the plants from A to Z.
The coral. The kelp. And all the beings in the seas.
The water. The soil.

Let’s set our dreams free.
Where none of us have to struggle in need.
And we can live together in harmony and peace.

Dear world leaders,

Some of you might find this call to dream
puts you at unease.
But you have simply forgotten
that your dreams matter.
They are the keys
to bringing in our future reality.

Dear world leaders,

If you have forgotten to dream,
Or you are simply afraid that no one will truly see what your dreams mean,
Or that they will never come to be,

Go call out to the children.
Go to classrooms.
Turn to your families.
Give the children crayons, and blank pieces of paper,
And ask them,
“Please, reach into your dreams
Into a future that can be.
And draw what you see.
In every colorful detail
From your playing fields to bountiful feasts.
What does it feel like to taste?
What are you tasting?
What are you sharing
With your family? With your friends?
With people in need?

Dear children of the world,

The past is just a sandbag. Let it go.
And let the hot air balloon breathe.
Let the floating feeling bring us all relief.

As we soar above your new future.
What do the streets look like?
What games are you playing?
Draw in every little detail.

You are the architect of your life.
You are the captain of your seas.
You are the maker of Disneyland.
You are the dreamer of your own inner land.

Color in that life with wonder.
Color the lands filled with joy.
How should we build our future, please?”

Dear world leaders,

In these pictures, you will find the key.
Through our children’s eyes and curiosity
We are led to a future reality
Where we don’t struggle and we don’t need.
We just live in harmony and peace.

No need for business plans.
Put away those financial scenarios.

And let our children’s crayons lead.

Peggy Liu is Chair of the Joint US-China Collaboration on Clean Energy (JUCCCE), a non-profit she created which has been at the forefront of sustainability in China since 2007.  Named the “Green Goddess of China” by Chinese press and TIME Hero of the Environment, she travels the world to consult companies and governments on how to catalyze societal-scale change, scale sustainable innovation, and collaborate with China.

Peggy with her son, Cory (left).

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