One of the most fun things to do is to evolve them, so that a small pigeon-like creature suddenly shimmers and disappears into a burst of white light, only to reappear as a bigger, better, souped-up pigeon-like creature.

Because I'm spending a lot of time in this game, Pokemon has become a bit of a metaphor for life.

How are we to transform ourselves, become better versions of ourselves, as we march into this strange new world called the Anthropocene? This is a serious question.

The International Union of Geological Sciences is now considering a proposal to give this name to the geological epoch following the Holocene (the epoch we're in now). That's how fundamentally we're changing the earth (and not for the better).

Whether or not the IUGS votes for it, the concept of the Anthropocene is now reaching popular consciousness.

We're living in a world that we have remade, for better or for worse. But are we fit for purpose?

Are we able to change enough about the way we do things, how we see ourselves, to cope with the challenges of the future?

These are esoteric questions, but Pokemon helps me think it through. We've evolved before; we can evolve again. We can - perhaps - learn new ways of living sustainably upon this fragile planet.

Which brings me to the annual general meeting of the Bathurst Community Climate Action Network on Tuesday, October 18, at 6pm at the Bathurst RSL.

Dr Steb Fisher, former petroleum executive and now an ecological activist and thinker, will be the guest speaker. All welcome.

He will also be the guest at a “long lunch” at Rahamim the next day (call 6332 9950 for details).

As Dr Fisher told ABC Radio National's Ockham's Razor earlier this year, the earth will never return to what it was, but we can give it space for its ecosystems to recover and flourish

 But this will not happen unless we, humanity, agree to work together and acknowledge our connection with life and with each other.

Doesn't sound much like the humanity we have now, does it? But change is possible. It has happened before and it can happen again.

Like the Pokemon pidgey, maybe we can focus our energy on becoming better selves.