Sally Gillespie
Staying engaged with climate and ecological issues can be challenging, given the seriousness and escalating nature of ecological catastrophes and the inadequate responses of Governments, here and overseas. Here is what we can do to develop the inspiration, stamina and resilience for ecological restoration projects and climate action that will safeguard our children’s future.
- Join with others to take action. Ecological crisis is a collective problem which requires collective action. It is not useful to shoulder this crisis as an individual burden when what it really requires is collective responses. When we act with others, we can find inspiration, encouragement and strength in their company. Join, or start a group, which values social, caring and fun activities for its members, as well as runs transformative campaigns and projects.
- Choose a form of engagement that excites and motivates you. Use your existing talents, skills and passions to guide your involvement, For example, join with others to reduce food waste in your neighbourhood/school/workplace, fundraise for girls’ education in developing countries (which results in lower birth rates and increased skills in sustainable living) or organise neighbourhood verge gardening or tree planting.
- Have conversations about how you feel when you hear news or see the effects of ecological destructions. Apathy commonly masks unacknowledged feelings of sadness or despair. When you can safely talk about you deeper feelings and hear how it is for others, it fosters connection and empathy, which helps us to bear and manage challenging feelings. When we have regular conversations about ecological crises, we can recognise how normal it is to have a range of emotional responses to climate crisis. We also experience how readily our emotions can shift when we can acknowledge and share them.
- Monitor the amount of media exposure you have to reports of climate and ecological problems, and the effects this has on you. Too much reading or watching reports about catastrophes can become disheartening or even traumatising. While it’s important to know the severity of the problems and the nature of them, in order to stay functional and responsive, you need to be more focused on the solutions and actions you and others are taking, rather than becoming fixated on how bad it is..
- Commit to your own wellbeing through regular time out, exercise, social activities, good sleep and nutrition, and mindfulness or meditation practices. Feed your connection with our natural world by getting out into places that restore and nurture your body, mind and soul.
- Remember that responding to climate and ecological issues is a lifelong project. We need to pace ourselves to stay engaged over the long distance. It is common for people to initially become highly immersed in climate issues and then burnout. However psychological research shows that seasoned climate activists learn how to sustain their engagement, by monitoring their activities, building good social networks of support and finding enjoyment in what they do. They also learn how to increase their resilience for dealing with difficult situations and with painful emotions. By learning positive ways to sustain ecological engagement we can also develop personally in ways that stand us in good stead for responding well to whatever life brings.
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