The Why

The world is changing quickly. We are seeing the impacts of climate change, migration, injustice, conflict and new technologies like AI changing the way we live and connect with one another.

The world is changing fast. Climate crises, conflict, displacement, inequality and AI are reshaping how we live, connect and imagine what’s possible.

But the future isn’t set in stone. And we don’t have to accept the world as it is.

What if we stopped asking what the future holds – and started deciding what it could become?

The future isn’t just something we inherit. It’s something we create.

#DearFuture is an invitation to think about what we have inherited, what we refuse to pass on and what we want to build together.

Share your hopes, lessons, and vision for the generations to come.

Send a short message to the future.

Your message can be written, recorded as audio, or shared through video. Messages will be featured on this page and across Kairos’ social media channelscreating a growing collection of voices imagining a more just and hopeful future.

And we don’t want these messages to stop here. Share your message on social media. Tag your elected officials. Start a conversation with your community.

In early 2027, Kairos will bring these collective messages together and send a message to the Prime Minister reflecting what people across our communities are asking us to protect, change and build for the future.

Your ideas shape what comes next for Kairos, including future campaigns and advocacy.

So, what would you say about the future?

Gail
-Six Nations

Clayton
-Six Nations

John
-Ottawa, ON

Dear Future,
I just need us all to be better people in this world sometimes.

Jessica
-Edmonton, AB

Cheryl
-Toronto, ON

Dear Future,
I hope that present day me has done what it takes to ensure your water is clear and plentiful, that the planet is no longer burning and that trees are flourishing in your forests. My wish for you is that birds are singing, animals are thriving and children are playing freely, without fear. In the 70s, when I was in school we learned a song called “Free to be You and Me” and I really believed in the lyrics then and now. I just cannot believe that 50+ years later we have not done what it took to make it happen. I really believe that the current day children will take care of you and that in another 50 years you will see positive signs of their hard work.

Lee
-Ottawa, ON

Dear Future,
I see you in the trees.
I lean against a two hundred year old tree and think of all the changes this tree has seen. The city has grown up around her. Most of her offspring mowed down for a view of the river valley. What has changed in 200 years: communication, technology, travel… community?
I look at a young maple tree, ten or twenty years old. What changes will it see in the century to come?
To this tree I commit that I will do everything in my power to build the communities that value connection, that value place, that value all life.
A bright yellow caterpillar climbs from the ground to my eye level on the old tree. A symbol of the cycles of life.
We are all interdependent.
This I will remember, dear Future.

Shannon
-Toronto, ON

Dear Future,
I wish that there will be no more wars and no more dictators. I wish for people to talk to each other face to face. I wish for children to once again play in parks or on the streets and come out of their caves and away from social media (as I sit writing this message on my iPhone). The world is in a mess. We need calm and lots of prayers and meditation.

Eleanor
-Pointe-Claire, QC

Dear future,
you are not something we inherit but something we build.

Michèle
-Toronto, ON

Dear Future,
I love you and you have a special place in my heart. I believe you will be preserved for future generations. I believe you will become greener and greener and the world will unite together to bring you more love by taking care of the resources of the planet. No more hate, no more injustice, no more poverty, no more pollution, no more wars, no more fighting, no more crying, no more fears. Only Joy, Love, Peace, Prosperity and Happiness.

Be blessed Dear Future. I love you.

Bocar
-Gatineau, QC

Dear Future,
You’ve been on my mind lately. I am writing to you from the year 2026. This week I watched a video of an American politician talk about the world he wants to leave his daughters. He named many of the crises that humanity is facing at this moment and said when his kids are old enough to ask him why he let this happen, he said, “I’m determined to answer truthfully that I didn’t.”

I felt these words in my bones. I too have children who are beginning to learn about war, violence, inequality, climate change, and human rights and environmental abuses. I know they will come to me one day and ask the same question. I hope the world inherits a future where so many felt the same determination as this politician to do everything in their power to chart a different course for this dear planet.

Last week, I attended a discussion on degrowth and liberation theology where someone shared an excerpt from a 2016 poem called “Hieroglyphic Stairway” by Drew Dellinger,
it’s 3:23 in the morning
and I’m awake
because my great great grandchildren
won’t let me sleep
my great great grandchildren
ask me in dreams
what did you do while the planet was plundered?
what did you do when the earth was unraveling?
surely you did something
when the seasons started failing?
as the mammals, reptiles, birds were all dying?
did you fill the streets with protest
when democracy was stolen?
what did you do once you Knew?

My heart also feels this disquiet for the future too. You are hard to perceive sometimes, dear future. So many of us find it challenging to take our minds out of the present to imagine what you could be. Imagination is a muscle that needs to be stretched and I am committed to tending that muscle – to imagine a world where justice flows and creation flourishes. I hope you will be the result of many hearts and minds tending their imagination, like me and then taking their determination, rolling up their sleeves, and making you possible.

Beth
-Ottawa, ON

Dear Future,

I wouldn’t blame you for not wanting to hear from me, especially with advice.  I am sorry for what my species has done to ourselves, to other species and to the world and for any part I have played in this. I am sorry for our inability to see the beauty, the value and the necessity of the rest of creation.

I am sorry for our history of domination, colonization and exploitation, not only of each other but of all of creation.  I am sorry for our arrogance, our individualism, our blind faith in progress, efficiency and profit.  I am sorry that we have allowed  individual and corporate power, profit and military might to dominate and marginalize most of our species and the rest of creation.

I am sorry that we have not thought about the impacts of the systems that support this history and lifestyle on future generations, and that, throughout history,  those who have reminded us of our commitment to future generations and to creation – defenders of nature, justice and rights – have been marginalized, persecuted and made to disappear, rather than revered as leaders and as prophets.

Oh, what arrogance.

This may sound like too little too late.  But I do believe that another world is possible. I believe that we can turn this history and these systems upside down.  I pledge to work with others to dismantle the existing systems of oppression, exploitation, inequity and war and build new ones, based dignity, justice and care for all peoples  and for all of creation.

I am not alone, there are many of us who believe this, we have just been silenced and marginalized and stripped of power.  Despite this adversity, you will find there are many of us who want to stay in this world and are prepared change systems. And I know that in working to change systems and build another world, we will build collective power, commitment to each other and to the future. I know that we will work towards a future of reconciliation with all of creation.   I know this because we have already started.

I wouldn’t blame you for not wanting to hear from me.  But please listen to me when I say another world is possible. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Love,

Rachel 
-Toronto, ON

Murray
-Vancouver, BC

Dear Future…
Every day I dream that rivers, lakes, oceans, mountains, forests, air, animals and all creation will live without fear, free of pollution, extraction and privatization.

Alfredo
-Toronto, ON

Dear Future,
In early 2027, should all go well, I will welcome my first grandchild into the world.
What I want to learn from this new, young soul is constant wonder.
My own days are filled with activism against social injustice, mobilization against environmental destruction, and criticism of corporate elites.
(Yes, there is more than enough to do! I yearn for a future that offers possibilities – not constraints – to the next generations.)
For the future, I commit to continuing to work for inclusive justice – social and ecological. This is so important.
But how we work is as important a journey as what we do…
I want to learn how to live into a better future by choosing dialogue over division, choosing mercy over condemnation, and choosing humility over ideology – in my words, in my vocation and in my life.

Joe
-Ottawa, On

Dear Future,
I hope you inherit a world where people matter more than positions, profits, titles or recognition. A world where kindness is not mistaken for weakness, honesty is valued, and doing the right thing matters even when nobody is watching.

I hope you inherit communities where every person’s contribution is appreciated, including the quiet work done behind the scenes that so often goes unnoticed. Where people are encouraged to use their talents, creativity, and imagination to make a difference, rather than simply conform to expectations.

I hope technology has been welcomed and has helped us become more connected, informed and compassionate, without taking away our ability to listen, think critically, create, and care for one another.

I hope we have learned to protect what we cannot replace: our planet, our human dignity, our relationships and our sense of responsibility toward one another.

Most of all, I hope you inherit a world where progress is measured not by how much we accumulate, but by how much good we leave behind.

I don’t expect us to have gotten everything right. But I hope you can say that we tried, that we cared, and that we didn’t simply leave the responsibility of building a better world to you.

I hope our political, business, and medical leaders chose to lead by these values and we, as humans, chose these paths, leaving you a compassionate world where the well-being of humanity and compassionate care for one another was the central focus of all.

With hope,

From someone who believes that the little things we do today shape the world you will inherit.

Mary Susan
-Ottawa, ON