The World on Fire
my TEDx and a podcast about the psychology of climate change
The mountain village of Jasper, Alberta lost one third of its structures this week. Likely the ski hill where I spent time as a kid. Dozens of homes. Some iconic and beautiful hotels. Acres of national park land. And so many terrified wild animals I feel nauseated thinking about it.
Some of us don’t. That’s privilege. But it’s also dissociation - the theme of my TEDx talk last month: How to Feel Safe When the World is on Fire
One of the most important things we are collectively facing is the climate emergency. Most of us are living in 30C (>95F) heat this summer or have recently dealt with a natural disaster. Or both.
This week, we recorded the hottest day worldwide in recorded and measurable time - over 100,000 years. And I live in one of the regions that is doubling-down on fossil fuel extraction. Even our hockey team lives in the cognitive dissonance.
How does trauma tie in? Have a listen to my podcast interview with Lisa from Against the Tide Films:
“healing from trauma in the individual will allow us to heal from these systemic traumas that we’re facing…”
This is THE story of our times.
So of course it's on my mind and in my work.
Starting in September, I've enrolled in the California Institute for Integral Studies (CIIS) certificate program in Climate Psychology. The number of books I’ve been reading on this subject are in the dozens now - I highly recommend How to Live in a Chaotic Climate by LaUra Schmidt and anything by Joanna Macy.
One resource I really cherish is the School for the Great Turning - led by my friend Lydia Violet Harutoonian, a Persian-American singer and activist. Her approach to Macy’s Work that Reconnects is intersectional, pleasurable, and deeply connected. She has studied with adrienne maree brown, whose book Emergent Strategy has shaped my recent academic life and whose podcast with her sister How to Survive the End of the World is an authentic and joyful ode to these times.
It’s unlikely that we can curb the imminent changes related to ecosystem collapse. Tides will rise. Food will become even more scarce. “Unprecedented” events will become more commonplace.
We need to deal with both the pre-traumatic (anticipated) stress and the grief in community. We need to have authentic conversations. We need regional responses.
Because we are literally in this together.
There really isn't anything we can do about it, yet we know what's happening and why. The billionaires are running the show, and those who profit from fossil fuels control governments, and are too powerful to fight. It's so wrong. This is why global warming is so stressful.
I don't think there's really any solution to dealing with the stress of global warming. All we can do is sit back and watch while things get worse and worse, and know that bad actors are running the show.