🖊️ Ten Letters In — Finding Our Voice

Reflection on the first ten letters of One Letter a Day

When One Letter a Day began ten days ago, it was an experiment of action: the daily act of correspondence meant to reopen public conversation about the climate emergency. Ten letters later, it has already become something more: a way of thinking through doing.

Each day’s choice - who to write to, what to ask, and why - has refined the project’s purpose. This action has brought about reflection: some of us deliberate endlessly and never begin; others act constantly and rarely pause to think. This project, almost by accident, has become a bridge between the two: an exercise in acting and reflecting, publicly, day after day.

The project has also proved surprisingly hard to explain. What began as a simple civic experiment now takes up most of my thinking time outside work. And within that focus I’ve found a sense of purpose, and the feeling that I am finally doing something tangible in the face of the climate crisis. I’ve often heard that meaningful action can ease climate anxiety, that grounding yourself in contribution steadies the mind. I think I’m beginning to experience that for myself. On a personal level, it is quietly powerful.

This project would never have started without modern technology. I rely on it every day to research, to write, to publish; yet the longer it continues, the more I feel freed from its grip. Technology made One Letter a Day possible, but I believe it will not carry it forward. What sustains it is not connectivity but connection: the slow, human rhythm of attention, correspondence and - I hope - care.

And already, small signs of dialogue are emerging. Two councillors have replied, and early conversations are beginning to take shape, here and in-person. Tentative, but real.

From local proof to wider purpose

The first week focused on the city itself. Seven councillors from across Leeds received letters asking what visible civic leadership on climate looks like when public attention is elsewhere.
The second week turned to those who hold knowledge and conscience: academics and researchers whose work illuminates both the science and the human dimensions of this crisis. From behavioural science to climate dynamics, urban imagination to social justice, their replies will help refine how we should talk and act responsibly on climate in everyday civic life.

Today's tenth letter marks more than a numerical milestone; it’s the moment the project starts to look outward. The plan is to widen the circle, week by week, so the conversation reaches those who shape not only policy but also culture, economy and conscience. We begin where trust is possible: local leaders, scientists, artists; and build from there. Each answered letter will strengthen the foundation for the next. My aim is not to lobby, but to make visible how people in positions of influence choose to respond when asked, plainly and publicly, what responsibility means in this decade.

Over time, One Letter a Day will move gradually from civic and scientific foundations toward wider spheres of imagination, economy, politics and moral conscience. Local figures give the project credibility; cultural voices can not only restore emotion and meaning, but create a vision of a world we would want to live in; economic and political actors will test whether the structures that govern us can still respond to the science they fund and the citizens they serve. Each circle widens the conversation and lends legitimacy to the next.

Why persistence matters

There is no shortage of alarm or expertise about climate change; what is missing is continuity and hope. We forget, then remember, then move on because facing the extend of the crisis at our doors can feel like staring into the abyss.

One Letter a Day exists to hold attention steady. Not through outrage, but through steadiness itself. A small act, repeated long enough, hopefully becomes a civic pulse.

Ten letters in, the pattern is visible: action and reflection feeding one another; words becoming small instruments of accountability; persistence replacing despair; words of hope, change in the making.

Thank you to everyone who has read, replied or shared so far. The next ten letters will continue to widen the circle, and to test whether persistence, carried in public, can still move the needle of hope.

— Vivien