Down The Road - Too Far Gone?
Do you experience climate anxiety? Do you see it in others? I've been meaning to ask you for a while. How does global warming make you feel?
I think climate anxiety has been very common in society, but covert - hidden in movies, TV, the news, social psychology, etc. Then, there are the HSP folks - the real folks attuned to what's happening - and I know they experience climate anxiety - especially the ones who feel they can do nothing about it. Hopefully this angst will soon transform people into progressive action, whether or not that will solve the problem. Doesn't hurt to try - and one maintains one's self-respect by trying.
A long time ago, I was proud to be at a wild, all-night party, with the "In-Crowd." It was great - but it was also at a time when I was disturbed over rampant corporate capitalism and looming climate change. Not a lot of people were taking these things seriously at the time. Well, I left that party in the early morning, walking along the highway home, pretty stoned. I became exceedingly depressed about the fate of the planet, and how people were just carrying on like zombies. I saw an endless stream of car lights driving by, against the rising sun, and I lost it. I was so drunk, I got on my knees and pleaded for these people to wake up. Change their lives while there was still time. Turn off all those damn engines...
The police caught up to me, on the meridian, and took me into their car, where they took $10 out of my wallet, and let me go, on a bus home. What a deep embarrassment that was for me. But, on the other hand, something wild was needing to come out, and it was something good - something everyone should listen to, before it gets to the point of madness, right?
These days, I act progressively against climate change, even if there is absolutely no hope of success. I don't need any support or reward or proof. Because, for one thing, climate change will be going on for hundreds of years, as I see it. So, my philosophy, which completely annihilates any climate anxiety in me, is to act transcendentally, like the Native Americans, believing that we must act not for ourselves, and not for our children, but for a world inhabitted by our decedents seven generations down the road.
And, the added bonus in this? Well, just maybe there is hope of some success. That would be nice, wouldn't it?
How to turn climate anxiety into action | Renée Lertzman
It's normal to feel anxious or overwhelmed by climate change, says psychologist Renée Lertzman. Can we turn those feelings into something productive? In an affirming talk, Lertzman discusses the emotional effects of climate change and offers insights on how psychology can help us discover both the creativity and resilience needed to act on environmental issues.
I think climate anxiety has been very common in society, but covert - hidden in movies, TV, the news, social psychology, etc. Then, there are the HSP folks - the real folks attuned to what's happening - and I know they experience climate anxiety - especially the ones who feel they can do nothing about it. Hopefully this angst will soon transform people into progressive action, whether or not that will solve the problem. Doesn't hurt to try - and one maintains one's self-respect by trying.
A long time ago, I was proud to be at a wild, all-night party, with the "In-Crowd." It was great - but it was also at a time when I was disturbed over rampant corporate capitalism and looming climate change. Not a lot of people were taking these things seriously at the time. Well, I left that party in the early morning, walking along the highway home, pretty stoned. I became exceedingly depressed about the fate of the planet, and how people were just carrying on like zombies. I saw an endless stream of car lights driving by, against the rising sun, and I lost it. I was so drunk, I got on my knees and pleaded for these people to wake up. Change their lives while there was still time. Turn off all those damn engines...
The police caught up to me, on the meridian, and took me into their car, where they took $10 out of my wallet, and let me go, on a bus home. What a deep embarrassment that was for me. But, on the other hand, something wild was needing to come out, and it was something good - something everyone should listen to, before it gets to the point of madness, right?
These days, I act progressively against climate change, even if there is absolutely no hope of success. I don't need any support or reward or proof. Because, for one thing, climate change will be going on for hundreds of years, as I see it. So, my philosophy, which completely annihilates any climate anxiety in me, is to act transcendentally, like the Native Americans, believing that we must act not for ourselves, and not for our children, but for a world inhabitted by our decedents seven generations down the road.
And, the added bonus in this? Well, just maybe there is hope of some success. That would be nice, wouldn't it?
How to turn climate anxiety into action | Renée Lertzman
It's normal to feel anxious or overwhelmed by climate change, says psychologist Renée Lertzman. Can we turn those feelings into something productive? In an affirming talk, Lertzman discusses the emotional effects of climate change and offers insights on how psychology can help us discover both the creativity and resilience needed to act on environmental issues.