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Earth’s Environmental Crises and Opportunities for Change

During this time of significant shifts in our social and ecological world, what ideas and practices are we offering our clients, ourselves, and our wider communities? What does it mean to have an inspired relationship with Earth’s crises and these vast opportunities for intersectional change?

EECO Team: Jenny Freeman, Merle Conyer, Akansha Vaswani-Bye and Peggy Sax

Featured Resources

Creative Responses (to the poly crisis)

Featuring creative responses to the poly crisis, especially as regards to (community) mental health

The Ecoanxiety Cypher: From Climate Paralysis to Climate Movement

Kelly Loftis wrote this paragraph about Jackson Xia, an activist in Las Angeles, United States:

Jackson Xia, a self-named Sustainability Nerd, dancer, producer, and facilitator, applies his passion for sustainability and environmental research in his roles in TV and film production.

What has caught our attention and drive to highlight this Creative Activist, is his work in utilizing “dance as a climate anxiety-relief tool.” He makes the point that “many art forms from street cultures were born as a reaction to an unstable world” and “there is a resemblance with ecoanxiety in terms of living through systemic issues and needing something to help cope, be hopeful, or just maintain mental health.”

Community connection lives in his work, as well as an uplifting of the voices, perspectives, and lived experience of people most acutely aware and impacted by earth’s climate crisis.

Many in this work have written and spoken about the consequences of being disconnected from each other and the world in these unraveling times. Jackson’s work offers a refreshing approach to accessing connection, which can often heavily rely on spoken language. He describes his dance workshop, The Ecoanxiety Cypher, as a way for “dance novices to explore the emotions involved when talking about the climate crisis and discover ways that movement can heal.”

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A Regenerative Tree of Life Practice: Nurturing Climate Activists

Merle Conyer offered the collective narrative therapy practice outlined here to activists and community members in Australia who were taking action in response to the climate crisis.  The 'Tree of Life' methodology was adapted and infused with nature-rich themes, as well as principles of regenerative practice that nourish individual and collective wellbeing. Participants shared richly described stories about how their agency, actions, and activism were informed by commitments, hopes, lineages, and relationships, and some of the challenges that were overcome.

The creation of collective trees, the use of outsider witnessing, and letter-writing linked people’s lives through shared themes and fostered solidarity within and between the groups located in different locations.

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Toward Storying a Life-Sustaining Future

“Climate change (global warming) is just a symptom, like a fever, and not the disease itself. The underlying problem is the ecological emergency, the destruction of our ecosystems, the destruction of our home.” Dr Linda Theyer GTEC reader

Considering ourselves ‘citizen therapists,’ part of a ‘global citizen’s movement,’ we are called to jump outside of the box of ‘business as usual’ practices, to invite awareness and engagement.  In these changing, challenging times, how do we find ourselves responding? What frees us from immobilizing feelings or denial, what sparks generative action? We, our clients, and our communities can contribute to the kinds of transformation needed through our circles. As we awaken from ‘the disconnect,’ the trance of the eco-cidal, what does it mean to be eco-sourced instead? Let’s explore counter-stories, liberative narratives, visions of possibility and engagement.

Tuned into our natural surroundings, as we breathe into the work of our times, we find each of us has stirrings and unique gifts to offer. What calls us? What do narrative and collective narrative practices offer?How can we open spaces for inspired resistance, effective protest, regenerative action? Let’s connect with wider circles of environmental and social justice responders. Marginalized and liberative narratives uplifted can shape a world that’s life-sustaining for all and all species. Earth’s calling invites gratitude, grief, curiosity, creative courage, connectedness, fierce love!  Here we are!

Getting Inspired

Read our News Blog: What Can We Do?

Latest from one of our NT community

David Page wrote this Op-Ed to encourage us to "boycott pollution" with details spelled out at: boycottpollution.org

David Page is the founder of boycottpollution.org. He retired from the San Francisco Department of Public Health in 2015 after a career as a therapist/social-worker. Since then he’s been active in various anti-pollution efforts.

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Around the world, our narrative colleagues are speaking up and taking action. Here are some illustrations:

Resources for Our Envisionment and Activism

“A racist system that values some lives over others creates the sacrifice zones that fuel climate chaos. Only by ending that system can we create a new economy that prioritizes the health of all over the wealth of a few, an economy that doesn’t depend on destroying the ecosystems that humans and wildlife need to survive.”  Hop Hopkins, Sierra Club

EECO RESOURCE LIST: Download Pdf

Organizations for Professionals

Training

For us, our clients, and communities

Books

Articles & Blogs

Podcasts

Videos

Music videos: New river theme

More Music

Links for Youth 

Related Collabs

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