We’re in this group because we care about the climate crisis. But the climate crisis isn’t the only thing going on in the world at the moment. When I came across this letter to a climate agony aunt in a newsletter I subscribe to, it resonated with me. I thought it might be a useful topic of conversation for us.
Dear Climate Therapist,
The world’s gone mad and even though I was coping ‘ok-ish’ with my climate anxiety, I’m now completely out of my depth with climate anxiety, combined with Trump anxiety combined with rise of right-wing ideology anxiety. I thought I was doing okay but tell me how to cope with this!
What on Earth?!?!
Can you relate to this letter?
Maybe you would change some of the words, perhaps other issues are causing you distress that you’d add to the list? Maybe anxiety isn’t the strongest emotion you are feeling right now? Can you relate to this letter, or what would the letter say if you had written it?
“It’s been very bad. Gaza laid bare how morally bankrupt the whole shitshow is.”
“I need to bear witness to what’s happening”.
“It’s put the climate crisis in the shade”.
“I feel rage. I’m not accepting the “there are two sides” argument from people anymore”.
“I feel total isolation. I feel alienation”.
“I’d add incel culture and misogyny to the list”.
“I think I’m in denial. I’m following the news less. I think it’s a defence mechanism and protective”.
“I’m trying to have a balanced perspective. To have hope too and to see the good things happening in the world as well as the bad”.
“I think I’m putting my head in the sand”.
“I just think I can’t do anything about it”.
“I’ve also got my personal anxieties to deal with”.
“I’m thinking I’ve not got long”.
“I do wonder how it can have got so bonkers so fast”.
“Is there a tipping point or a critical mass that will put a stop to it (Trump)?”.
“There doesn’t seem to be a shared reality anymore”.
“Now he’s said these things, the idea is out there, it’ll start to happen”.
“Flood the zone is a tactic”.
“He’s making announcements to distract from other things they’re doing”.
“It’s good to talk about this”.
“I feel a sense of disbelief that it’s got to this stage”.
“There are so many things happening all at once. There are too many protests and campaigns on WhatsApp, it’s overwhelming, and they aren’t even covering all the issues”.
“I feel powerless”.
What advice are people giving, and is it helpful to us?
As well as the response from the Climate Therapist (Caroline Hickman), which you can read here, I’ve got loads of analyses of the situation in my feeds and inboxes. These include strategies for activists and organisers to produce strong opposition, and advice on how to cope with living in such troubling times. Not only is the situation itself overwhelming, but I’ve found the number of different takes and good ideas overwhelming. I don’t know which line to follow. So, to make it easier and avoid overwhelming you, I’ve picked out some general themes I think I’ve seen in all this advice. It’s rough, it’s only what’s caught my attention, but I think it might give us a starting point for thinking about strategies for responding.
The words resist and refuse kept cropping up in my emails. It reminded me of the 5Rs – refuse, resist, reduce, reuse and recycle – that Thomas Doherty of the Climate Change and Happiness podcast uses. I took that mnemonic and used it to organise my ideas.
Refuse – I see what they’re trying to do and I’m not going to fall for it.
For example: they’re deliberately flooding the zone with shit to get us running about trying to keep up. I’m going to make sure we focus on the big picture.
“It can be hard to see what they’re trying to do”.
“Don’t want to end up with conspiracy theories”.
“I get ideas from podcasts and newsletters. It isn’t something I can work out for myself”.
Resist – What they’re doing is harmful, and I will oppose it.
This can happen at all levels, from large-scale organising to how we go about our everyday lives and relationships. For example, they’re trying to divide us with culture-war issues. I’ll try even harder to learn to work with people I disagree with.
“They can’t take this away from you”.
“It’d be good to have a better story and vision than they do”.
“I like the idea of loads of micro-expressions of opposition”.
“Doing this makes you a better person”.
“I felt inspired by these to persist with being who I want to be”.
Reduce – Practice self-care to stay in the fight. Build support systems so we take care of each other.
“It can be a privileged thing – can drift from self-care to selfishness”.
“The reason for taking a break matters”.
“I don’t want to do the white privilege thing of prioritising our ease, comfort and convenience at the expense of others”.
What do you think or feel at the end of today’s conversation?
“Not as guilty as I was feeling when I came in. It is a valid position”.
“Shell-shocked. It feels intense. I’m alright though. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to feel”.
“The structure here really helps to have these conversations”.
“It was honest”.
“It was cathartic”.
“I feel physically better. The knot has loosened a bit”.
“I feel less isolated”.
“Connected”.