From Grief to Greatness: Climate Grief, Resilience & Preparedness with Elizabeth Doerr | S03E03 - video Dailymotion

Tangelic Life

🌍 Climate change can feel overwhelming—how do we build resilience? In this insightful Tangelic Talks episode, Elizabeth Doerr shares her journey from anxiety to action, exploring climate justice, grief, and practical preparedness.  From wildfires to community building, Elizabeth offers tools for turning grief into greatness.  📌 Episode Highlights: 🌍 Origins of "Cramming for the Apocalypse" and climate anxieties 🔥 Facing disasters like wildfires and earthquakes 🌳 Skills for resilience and social responsibility 📊 Venn diagram of joyful climate action 🐞 Indigenous fire practices and regenerative solutions 😌 Grief processing through cafes and nature connection  🔹 About Elizabeth: Writer on climate justice and resilience, Substack author of "Cramming for the Apocalypse," and principal at Doerr & Co.  📌 Timestamps: 00:00–01:46 Local Disasters, Agency, and Information Overload 01:46–02:38 Welcome & Guest Intro: Climate Justice and Grief 02:38–07:09 Origins of "Cramming for the Apocalypse" – Earthquakes, Wildfires, and Anxiety 07:09–09:33 Breaking Down "Apocalypse" and Cramming Urgency 09:33–11:28 Exposure Therapy, Acceptance, and Hope 11:28–15:18 Doom Narratives, Skills for Empowerment, and Social Responsibility 15:18–19:05 Venn Diagram of Climate Action, IPCC Overwhelm, and Small Actions 19:05–23:25 National Parks, Fire Fascination, and Environmental Dissonance 23:25–28:30 Fire History, Indigenous Practices, and Advice for Beginners 28:30–34:33 Touching Grass, Community, Climate Cafes, Rest, and Outro  💬 Join the Conversation: What’s one way you build resilience against climate challenges? Comment below! ⬇️  ✨ Explore More: 🌐 Website: https://TangelicLife.org 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/tangeliclife 🐦 Twitter/X: https://x.com/Tangelic_ 💼 LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/tangelic 👍 Facebook: https://facebook.com/tangelic.org  ✅ Like, comment, share & subscribe for more insights on sustainability and empowerment! 🌍💚  🔖 #TangelicTalks #ClimateGrief #ClimateResilience #DisasterPreparedness #ClimateJustice #CrammingForTheApocalypse #ClimateAction #EnvironmentalJustice #RegenerativePractices #UrbanPlanning #TouchGrass #FromGriefToGreatness

Transcript

00:00The floods in Texas and, you know, in wildfires in L.A. and, you know, that kind of stuff is

00:10it's not all going to happen at once, but like we can take agency over what we can do in those

00:17moments. And those are going to happen no matter what. And then kind of it takes a step that leads

00:24you kind of to the next step of taking agency and action toward climate change and climate justice.

00:30A lot of the world is ending right now or it's going to end tomorrow. And so you're just like

00:35it all becomes noise to young people. Right. But what really never, never becomes noise is

00:42the narrative of skill acquisition and learning as a way of self-empowerment. Right.

00:48I don't it's something I try to make older generations understand, like the fact that

00:53we have so much access to information all the time is very overwhelming. Like, yes,

00:58we're better informed, but we were not made to consume headlines about the world burning and

01:04the war and famine and all this stuff 24 seven, you know.

01:07Welcome to Tangelic Talks, your go to podcast from Tangelic, where we dive into the vibrant world of

01:26clean energy, development, sustainability, and climate change in Africa. We bring you inspiring

01:31stories, insightful discussions, and groundbreaking innovations from the continent making waves in the

01:37global community. Tune in and join the conversation toward a brighter, greener future. Let's get started.

01:46Welcome to Tangelic Talks, a podcast on the intersection of energy, equity, and empowerment

01:52with your co-hosts Victoria Cornelio and Andres Tamas. Today we're talking with Elizabeth Doerr

01:58from grief to greatness and looking at different things that we can do so we can be more resilient,

02:04but also just, you know, climate change is a bit sad, so let's make it a bit better. Elizabeth is a writer

02:11and communication strategist. Her writing focuses on climate justice, climate grief, resilience,

02:17disaster preparedness. You can find her weekly sub-stack newsletter at Cramming for the Apocalypse,

02:23and she is also principal at the social impact communications firm Dora & Co., where she works with

02:28others to showcase thought leadership through book development and communication strategy. Welcome,

02:33Elizabeth. Thank you. I'm happy to be here. Yeah, we're very excited to have you. And I mentioned

02:39Cramming for the Apocalypse, so we got to touch on that first. The fascinating title. Can you tell us

02:45what sparked this project and what you're learning about the emotional landscape of climate justice,

02:50but also disaster preparedness? Yeah. Well, I can kind of go back to, I mean, when I moved to,

02:57I live in Portland, Oregon, and we moved to Portland in 2016. And so the year before we moved here,

03:06there was this big article that came out in The New Yorker by Katherine Schultz called The Really Big

03:12One about the Cascadia subduction zone earthquake that could basically destroy the entire Pacific Northwest

03:18Northwest and could come at any given time in the next 50 years. And yeah, so my husband and I were like,

03:28should we move to Portland? But then, you know, I'm from the Northwest originally, and I had friends

03:34here. So we kind of overcame that initial, initial, you know, hesitation. But then when we moved here,

03:42I thought about the earthquake a lot. And I, we had my son about, we, I found out I was pregnant,

03:50like just right after moving here. And so then was absorbed into that. And then, but then, especially

03:57when my son was born, the anxiety around the earthquake really increased. And then also around

04:03that time, we experienced, in 2017, we experienced the Eagle Creek fire in the Columbia River Gorge,

04:11which is just right outside of Portland, really incredibly beautiful area, and one of my favorite

04:16parts of the region. But they, it was engulfed in flames for, you know, for weeks. And we had this,

04:26you know, this blanket of smoke that was over Portland for, for days, and it felt really apocalyptic

04:32to me. And so, you know, I already had the anxiety around earthquake, and had already thinking, thought

04:39about, like, emergency preparedness. And then that added anxiety around climate change. And then also, I

04:45had just brought a child into this world that kind of looked like this dying. And so I, yeah, I, you know,

04:53and I, I'm a writer. And so like, I navigate through these kind of these questions for myself,

04:58through writing. I wrote a story for City Lab in 2019, about a neighborhood in Portland that was

05:10preparing together. And they, and a lot of people here think of the earthquake as like the first thing

05:16that they're going to prepare for, even though it's probably less, I mean, it's imminent, but it's not

05:21as imminent, it's a wildfire, which we've experienced multiple since 2017, that are nearby,

05:28and the smoke emergencies that are related to it. And so, so yeah, it just, I mean, I've had so that,

05:36so since for the last nine years or so, I've had this, you know, this in my mind. And when my son was

05:44a baby, we had a group of parents that got together to learn about kind of what we need to do to prepare.

05:49And so, and then I've just always felt really unprepared. And my husband and I used to joke

05:54about how I would not survive the zombie apocalypse, because I didn't know, have any like skills,

06:01like, I mean, I have skills, but not any that are like practical in the apocalypse.

06:06Yeah, no, I'm getting bit first.

06:09Yeah, exactly. And so, yeah, so I was like, oh, this would be a great book is to like,

06:15learn these skills. And so it really started as a book idea. And, and it's still a book idea. And so

06:23I started the, the sub stack, just because I was already doing so much research on, you know,

06:29building skills, building preparedness skills. And so I started the sub stack as I was kind of,

06:36because it's like, a book is such a long term thing. And it's, you know, and, you know, it's gone

06:41up and down on where I'm going with it. I'm actually working on a different project book

06:45wise, but still cramming for the apocalypse is alive and well on sub stack and my weekly

06:50newsletters. And so, so yeah, that was a long description of how I got to it. But then the

06:58title cramming for the apocalypse, I actually credit credit my writing group for helping me with

07:03that because I was, you know, I was trying to find a name for the, for my proposal, because I had

07:11finished my book proposal. And, and we, we all, I don't know, it was kind of a, a brainstorming

07:19session all together. And it came out from that. And, you know, and there's never, you know, I've

07:24never wavered from it. So it's like, that is perfect. It's exactly what this is. And also, I think

07:31using the word apocalypse too, is really important to me because we have this idea that an apocalypse

07:37is like every, the entire world is wiped out. It is like, you know, we're in, everyone is in crisis

07:45all at one time. But the truth is it really is, it's smaller apocalypses happening to groups in

07:53different places at different times. I mean, there is an apocalypse happening in Gaza as we speak

07:59and has been there, you know, indigenous peoples have experienced apocalypse. And so I think it's

08:06kind of like an, you know, read it, like taking back the word and also being like, it also is an

08:11opportunity to think about the future differently. And, you know, we're not living in a time where

08:19everything is great. And if we lose everything, like maybe there are some things that are worth losing.

08:26Yeah. You know, that kind of, maybe there's a couple of things we could let go. Maybe there's

08:32a couple of things. So, yeah. So in a, you know, in a long story, that is where it all came from.

08:40Yeah. And I really appreciate you breaking down the term apocalypse because for you, apocalypse isn't

08:45just like, you know, the world just ceases to exist. But like you said, there's all these

08:49smaller scale, quote unquote, things happening at the same time. What I was really interested in was the

08:55cramming part of things. Cause I think cramming, I don't know, it exerts a certain urgency. Like

09:00you cram for a test the night before you cram for a presentation. Like cramming is this thing that

09:06we do when we're, we have no time and we just have to like absorb a lot of information at once.

09:12And I guess from the way you explained that you were going through all these anxieties at once and

09:15you were like, I just need to be ready in case like the earth rumbles tomorrow. Like I need to do it

09:20now. So how do you like come down from that anxiety and, you know, think a bit more clearly

09:27and move away from that fight or flight and sort of ground yourself again?

09:31Yeah. And you know, it's funny. I have a lot of friends who ask me if I get depressed thinking

09:36about apocalypse and doing apocalypse, you know, research. Yeah. And you know, the funny thing is

09:43that, and I don't know if this works for everybody, but for me, I'm kind of like, I think exposure

09:49therapy really works. Like I just, I think about it a lot. And I think the more prepared you get and

09:56the more you think about preparedness, it's like the more you realize that you, you have resilience

10:02and that you can get through a big change. And, you know, we're incredibly adaptable as humans.

10:09We have adapted over, you know, if we have to adapt, we will. You know, I don't know, you know,

10:17we do have a lot of negative things like the desire for power and wealth as a part of us,

10:22but there's also really a lot of good, you know, in us as well. And so I, I don't know, for me,

10:31I have, it has helped me just accepting the fact that climate change is here, that we are seeing it

10:38and that things are going to be different. And I think that that's, I think that's something that

10:42it's kind of like the stages of grief is that you have to have reached a place of acceptance

10:47in order to kind of move on. It doesn't mean that I'm not, you know, it's not a linear path to

10:54overcoming grief. I still have moments of, of lack of hope and sadness, but I think by and large,

11:03like having deal, like thinking about it, knowing that climate change is here and also just looking at

11:09what solutions are and can be has also been really important. And that's also important,

11:15just writ large, because, you know, the research, especially for young people, the research shows

11:20that, you know, the doom and gloom narrative doesn't work to get people engaged in climate action.

11:28It's the, it's that there's something to save, that there's hope. And I mean, I, I do, I, I do,

11:34this is something my agent and I had issues with when we're trying to pitch the book is that I think

11:39the term apocalypse is pretty jarring for a lot of people and they, you know, they're like, people

11:45are reading, publishers were saying people are reading escapism right now. And, and it's true,

11:51I'm reading escapism. I also read apocalypse fiction, so I can do two things, but it, so I think

11:58it's still like, yeah, I don't know if they really kind of looked deeper into it. It's actually a story

12:03of solutions. It's a story of hope. Um, it's a story of optimism and, you know, and I, you know,

12:10I'm a, as a writer and as like, you know, for the reader, I kind of exist as this avatar for them

12:16to realize that this is a path to, to pushing through the grief and finding a path forward.

12:23And so, yeah, I don't know, I guess, you know, in a nutshell, it's really just facing it, you know?

12:29Do you think that for like, uh, the younger audiences, one of the aspects is, you know,

12:35going up in the information age, you, you've, you've been through all of the doom and gloom

12:41narratives and a lot of, a lot of the world is ending right now or it's going to end tomorrow.

12:46And so you're just like, it all becomes noise to, to young people. Right. But what really never,

12:53never becomes noise is, uh, the narrative of skill acquisition and learning as a way of

12:59self-empowerment. Right. And, and being able to surpass because the last hundred years are also

13:06a tale of dodging bullets in a way that is kind of, kind of wild the way we've managed to stay on

13:15track and like keep ourselves afloat. Right. Yeah. Yeah. A hundred percent. I mean, I think you're

13:20right. The skills acquisition for me was kind of a, uh, a way to take agency, um, because it does

13:27seem like such a big, I mean, not seem, it is a big problem and like anything, it feels like,

13:34what can I do? And so like, you know, one first step is just to get prepared is to have what you

13:40need. And, and also there's like a, you know, I I've, I've talked about this a lot in my writing

13:47and in the podcast that I do is that there is a social responsibility for preparedness as well,

13:53because I think, I think we get anyone who's getting into emergency preparedness gets lumped

13:58into the kind of doomsday prepper, right-wing prepper that, uh, you know, down with the government,

14:07yeah, I'm going to save myself and all the other, you know, and my family and that's it. Whereas,

14:13um, you know, to be prepared is also to care, caring for other people because when, if, and when

14:20emergency services do come, if you are privileged enough to, to have a store of food or water,

14:26or even have a go bag and a place to go, you don't have to take those very limited resources.

14:34And so like, that is an active agency to kind of, because we see that the, the results of climate

14:40change are disasters that happen in very local places, such as the floods in, um, in Texas and,

14:50uh, you know, in wildfires in LA and, you know, that kind of stuff is, um, it's, it's not all going

14:58to happen at once, but like, we can take agency over what we can do in those moments. And so,

15:04and those are going to happen no matter what. And then kind of, it takes the step that leads

15:10you kind of to the next step of taking agency and action toward climate change and climate justice,

15:16which, um, is also very, you know, it's going to depend on what you enjoy doing and what you can do.

15:23Yeah. And yeah. And I, I reference, uh, Ayanna Elizabeth Johnson a lot in that because she is,

15:31she's a climate researcher, uh, activist writer, and she's incredible. And she is, she did a Ted talk

15:41a few years ago that was about the Venn diagram of climate action. And, and I'll, I can send you

15:47that resource to put into the show notes, but it's, um, it's, I go back to it so many times

15:54because it's like, you don't have to solve the entire issue of climate change. You don't even

15:59have to get into policy. If that's not something that you can do, like, look at what, you know,

16:06what you're good at, look at what needs to be done and then look at what gives you joy. And at the center

16:11of that, that is where you can take action. And I think, I think that like, it starts with things

16:17that you can do individually, like prepare, and then, you know, you can kind of take bigger steps.

16:23A lot of people want to sort of focus on the abstract larger picture when you have no control

16:29over that. And that not only they're like, you need to pay attention to this, but not only does

16:34it also makes you more depressed is the problem because you understand that even, even if I had

16:40control of American foreign policy, I don't have, I mean, or, or climate, uh, policy, I don't have

16:46control of Chinese, uh, climate policy and, and then, you know, Russian climate policy. So

16:52there is a, there is a, there is no empowerment there. And there is actually not a huge, as a

17:02human, I just don't have the capacity to grasp that. Yeah. To grieve with it. Yeah. Well,

17:10and yeah, every time like an IPCC report comes out, that's like, we're doomed or we've already

17:18reached the 1.5% degree or 1.5 degree threshold. And I, what are we, I mean, yes, I, I, it's,

17:27it's probably extremely frustrating for these scientists who have been calling the alarm since

17:31the 1970s, but are sounding the alarm since the 1970s. And the, but you're right. Like it is so huge.

17:39And like, I, I oftentimes, even like as somebody who pays attention to climate change, uh, data and

17:46all of that, I have to tune it out sometimes. Like it's sometimes you just, and I mean, and,

17:52and that is okay. But I think that the challenge is that, and this is kind of, you know, human

17:57psychology, like the dissonance is, you know, like, what can I do about this? You know, this is so

18:03overwhelming. The immediate reaction is, can be like, it's futile. What can I even do about it? I'm not

18:09going to do anything, but if you can like take it in smaller chunks and kind of just think about it

18:14on individual levels and smaller actions that you can do, um, it is a lot easier to kind of push

18:21through that dissonance and also to find other people who are doing that. I think that like,

18:27and that, um, and like, you know, it's, it's, you know, it's, it's a cliche, but it's true is that

18:33the, you know, what you're doing, there are millions of other people doing it as well. And

18:39so you're not in isolation, even though sometimes it feels that way. And so that's why I think that

18:43finding other people, finding a community, I mean, even on Substack, like, I think it's been really

18:48amazing to find this community of people who are all kind of thinking in the same way. I mean,

18:55I don't even, you know, there are like hundreds of climate change, um, and nature substacks out there

19:02that are doing amazing work. And, um, and also like, you can think of it as like a very, like,

19:08I'll give an example of a very specific issue. Um, so I, so the work, the book that I'm working on now,

19:16I'm kind of in the proposal stages of it is about learning about climate change through the national

19:21parks. And so I've been, um, I was in Yosemite a couple of weeks ago and have talked to some fire

19:28historians, uh, the former like national park service fire chief. And, you know, and there's,

19:36you know, we were talking specifically about the sequoia tree, which like 20% of the, of the giant

19:44sequoias of mature sequoias have been, um, have been destroyed between 2015 and now.

19:51Which is crazy. And they're supposed to be fire resistant. So like that, that is a canary in the

19:58coal mine about climate change. But I, I was talking to Tom Nichols, who was the, the, um,

20:06up until 2014, he retired, but he, uh, was the chief of fire and aviation for the national park

20:12service. And I was like, is it like, part of it is that they, they haven't done a good enough time,

20:19a good enough job of doing prescribed fires and preparing the, you know, the, and, and then they've

20:28kicked the can down the road far enough that now climate changes is speeding it up. And so I was

20:33like, well, is there any hope for it? Like I asked him, I was like, this is, you know, I was getting

20:39like, Oh my God, I'm going to lose all this Sequoia. And he was like, it's, there's still

20:44time. Like there are still options. And there's a way he's like, I don't know if there's a hard,

20:49I think that we just need to, I mean, it's, it's challenging because the current administration

20:54has taken, um, is, and promised to take more funds away from not just the park service, but

21:01the forest service, the, just the department of the interior generally, which is, is, it's who

21:07fights our fires and, uh, not just fights fires, but manages fire, which is also includes, um,

21:15uh, prescribed burns. And so I think like, for me, I've gotten so fascinated by fire, like,

21:22and, and I think about it a lot in the West because we have annual fire season. And I think

21:27that there are ways to like, think about, you know, something that you feel is important.

21:32And like, I'm like, I want to find a way to get involved in like advocacy around fire

21:37management. Like, is that something that I can do? Is that something, I mean, that's,

21:40it's still like a big thing and I'm still kind of a newbie in this area of fire, but you know,

21:47it's like, you know, become a real nerd about something and find out all the details and then

21:52find, and then, then you can kind of get really, you know, and it's not it, it, and you'll find out

21:59that we're not necessarily doomed. It's not too late. And I think that's where, I don't know,

22:04that's kind of, I just, I had that on my mind because I spoke to Tom yesterday and so, and I'm

22:10writing about it right before I got on, I was like, like typing up some of the notes from it.

22:16And so it was like in my brain. Yeah. Very topical. How much, how much is like,

22:22is like the dissonance between, cause, cause like you, you have a lot of dissonance between people

22:27that really want to protect the environment with each other. Right. Um, and one of, one of the big

22:33things is one controlled fires too, is you have a really big problem right now in the United States

22:40and in Northern America in general, right. From, I believe, New Mexico to, to, to Northern Alberta,

22:46right. Of all the pine forests dying because of the, because tree bark beetles. And so you have a lot

22:56of dead wood. And so how much, and then, so there's this fight going on between, you shouldn't

23:01go down trees, but actually we should look down at the trees that are dead wood because they are a

23:07huge risk. They are a problem that is going to cause these, these forests to light up. Yeah. No,

23:15no problem in the future. And so you have this infighting in a way between, uh-huh.

23:20That has been going on for centuries. Yay. Another bite. Yay. No, I mean, that's the thing

23:28that is just so fascinating. Cause I was reading, um, Steve Pine is, I have it right here because

23:33I'm working on it. Uh, it's called Pyrosine Park. It was actually about Yosemite and like

23:38fire history, but he has a couple, he has, he's like kind of the preeminent fire historian,

23:43um, in the U S and oh my gosh, that infighting has happened for centuries. And, and the thing

23:51that I think that is, I think actually Steve kind of distilled it for me is that it's oftentimes the

23:58fight between the practitioners slash the, um, people who do, who have traditional practices.

24:05So in the, in the U S and Canada, it was indigenous peoples, the original peoples in Europe as well.

24:12It's people, it's the farmers, um, you know, prescribed burns were a big part of agriculture

24:17in Europe as well, but the people who don't want it are the elites, the people in power. And so they're

24:23the ones that hold the purse strings. They're the ones that, that make the laws. And so, and so,

24:29you know, in Europe, they did away with prescribed burns and their current agricultural, I mean,

24:35you can, I would be really curious to hear about that from the UK is that like, I didn't know this

24:39until I talked to Steve, like, I really didn't know much about, you know, fire in, in, in Europe.

24:46And so then, yeah. And it's the same. So it's like kind of this fight between who is, who are the

24:52people on the ground and actually know the land and who are the people who have this perception of

24:58the land. So like the elites sort of view ourselves as humans as not a part of nature. And then you have

25:04the people that are part of nature, right. And they, they play their part and it's the dissonance

25:09there. So, no, it's true. It's so true. And I think, yeah, it's kind of like, there's this,

25:16I don't know. I mean, there's so many, there's so many like layers to it too, because there's this,

25:21uh, so Frederick Law Olmsted, who, who was the, you know, the, the, who designed central park and like,

25:29uh, I don't know if it was him or junior, but one of them was on the, um, was like a national parks

25:35commissioner. And, and so like, I think like they wanted to see these spaces essentially become

25:41like that, like, you know, like to, but they, that being said, there was a difference to him

25:49between like parks, like central park and the quote wilderness, like the ones that we are seeing

25:55and that they believe fire was like vandalism essentially. And, and, and that I think were

26:01terms not, you know, chosen very targeted, you know, very targeted terms because he was referring

26:08to the indigenous peoples, the Miwok and, and the Paiutes that lived in the area use prescribed fire

26:15to manage the land and the ecosystem. And also the livelihood of the peoples there really, it paid

26:22off. I mean, it was like a really vibrant thriving ecosystem there. The forests were healthy and that

26:29there wasn't a ton of underbrush, but that view is completely like that, you know, Olmsted and the

26:37other commissioners who were all in Washington, DC or the East coast didn't see it that way. And so

26:43that's, um, I mean, and I think that's the perception. I mean, that's that we see that today,

26:48you know, like you said, it's, it's, um, yeah, the fire, like now that we're dealing, especially in

26:56like national parks, you're also dealing not just with like, so like when I talked to Tom yesterday,

27:02he's like, you know, most of Yosemite is back country wilderness that most people don't see.

27:07But if you're doing prescribed fire in that area, it all gets funneled through the valley,

27:14which is where all the, the tourists are. And so it becomes more of a nuisance, uh, because of the

27:22smoke. And so it's like, there, you know, there are these like social reasons that they can't do

27:27certain things or they can't do, you know, even if like the, the weather is perfect, the circumstances

27:33are great for prescribed fire. And how beneficial it is. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And so,

27:39you know, so it's just, yeah, that, I don't know. I feel like that's just the tug of war.

27:46Yeah. And it sounds like you're exposed to a lot of this, like conflicting information

27:50and fire is such a scary thing as well. So I think it's just one of those where it's like,

27:56I don't, it's something I try to make older generations understand. Like the fact that we

28:01have so much access to information all the time is very overwhelming. Like, yes, we're better informed,

28:06but we were not made to consume headlines about the world burning and the war and famine and all this

28:14stuff 24 seven, you know, it's too much. And there's a great, and like we were talking earlier,

28:20there's a powerlessness that you feel when you're exposed to all this and you're like, well, I can't

28:25do anything. So what would your advice be for someone who is just starting to think about all

28:31these big topics like you were nine, 10 years ago? Oh, um, that's a good question and kind of hard

28:40to answer. I think, I mean, I think if you're getting too overwhelmed, I mean, turn it off,

28:45like really just take a step back from the news and, um, and, you know, go walk in the woods. I think

28:54one of the things, yeah, touch grass, like connect, I mean, that actually is probably it, like connect

29:01with the nature and the land around you. Um, you know, take that moment and appreciate it and,

29:11and just also like think about why it's, it's worth, you know, protecting and preserving. I think

29:17that's maybe the starting point is that we do, I mean, and you can do this in urban settings too.

29:23I think that one thing that, and there are a lot of ways to go about it. Like take a class that like,

29:28like a birding class in a city you could like, I mean, there's so much wildlife in a city that I am

29:33still really bad at identifying. And even in wilderness, I'm like, yeah, it's a tree. I don't

29:38know what kind of tree it's a tree, but like, you know, really just take a moment to appreciate,

29:44find a class that like helps you engage. Um, I took a class on like foraging for, for herbal,

29:51like, or for natural remedies and stuff. And so it was just really cool. I mean, I, I don't know if I

29:56could actually use those yet safely. Uh, but it's still, it was really cool because it was like,

30:03there's so many cool things. Like this is just in like a, you know, one hike in, in Portland that

30:09like in the city limits that I could go on and find, you know, all the, like something that would

30:14like help with cough. And I just think that, that that's maybe the first step is really

30:20stop reading all the headlines. Um, for it, you know, I'm not saying forever, but take a moment,

30:27you know, to, to, I also, there are a lot of really great, uh, resources for people who are

30:33really experiencing deep grief about it. Um, it's the, the good grief network is actually like

30:40a group that has, um, I don't know if it's therapy or group like coffee chats about, you know, that

30:47really it's like reflecting on that grief and acknowledging it. I think that that's another

30:51resource as well. So, um, you know, starting with that and then, and, and then, you know,

30:59kind of go from there, think about what you care about and find the people around you and

31:04just dive into what the topic is that you think is interesting. But I think it starts with just

31:09appreciating, um, our, our world and our earth and see what is already, what's still there and worth

31:19saving. And I guess when we start doing that, we start finding that community, like you did through

31:24Substack or that, you know, parents group that you were telling us about. And, you know,

31:29those climate cafes, I go to one every three months just to unpack climate anxiety, you know,

31:35like working. That's great. And you're like, I just need to rant to someone who understands

31:41the dread I'm feeling right now. Right. Yeah, exactly. And when you don't feel as alone,

31:47it feels like they're, so other people are feeling this grief, which just is validating.

31:53And second, it's like, oh, these people are also taking action in their own way. So yeah.

31:58Yeah. I mean, what's kind of, yeah. I mean, I haven't actually been to a climate cafe myself,

32:04so you can probably speak to this more, but I, from what I know is that they are, it's also not

32:10just, it's not about action in those groups, which I think is really good because I think that that can

32:14also get really overwhelming. You can start comparing yourself to other people, but it really

32:21is just sharing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I think a lot of people in the environmental space and

32:26activists in general, I completely understand that there's this need to feel productive,

32:30like every day has to be spent saving the world. And it's like, you need to re-energize so you can go

32:37do that. You can't just be like strapped to a ship in the name of Greenpeace for 40 days.

32:47Not all of us are doing that.

32:49Who wrote the nap ministry?

32:52Oh, what's that? Never heard of that.

32:54Let's see. The nap ministry. Oh, rest is resistance. So I know that she has,

33:00I can't, I don't know what her book is called.

33:02I love naps. Yeah. Oh my gosh. I take them about every day.

33:10This is the beauty of working from home.

33:14I think that's a great tease because on the blog, we're going to talk a lot more about

33:18that community aspect, taking not necessarily action, but like a nap. And how do we do that?

33:24You know, we're all, we're all on fight or flight all the time with this grief and doom. So

33:29Elizabeth is going to help us understand a little bit more about how we ground ourselves,

33:34how we touch some grass metaphorically and maybe literally. But this has been Elizabeth

33:38Doerr talking about from grief to greatness. Thank you so much. Like I said, we're going to be on the

33:43blog. So check it out at tangeliclife.org and we'll see you on the next one. Thank you.

33:49Awesome. Thank you so much for having me.

33:59Let's stop change for rural lights to brighter days. Equity rising, voices strong. We're building

34:09tomorrow where we all belong. Tangela talks, energy, equity, pride, and power in the world side by side.

34:19A spark becomes a fire, a vision that's true. Together we rise. It starts with you.

34:25For a look at the circumstances of the sky.

34:31Correctness.

34:32I think we can tell you about the best Tracy attitude.

34:32I like you the best Tracy Achieve Group.

34:36I like you the best Tracy to kernels from thecast.

34:39Tuesdays.

34:39I like you the love Tracy.

34:40It's Facebook, keep a look at the mindset if we need it.

34:42Ia lot not see you.

34:43Welcome to the seit book.

34:44I like you.

34:44Share your report.

34:46I like you.

34:46The last one I eat is married in grace.

34:48And after this one, I like me.

34:49I'm afraid of the life class

34:50And after this one, I like you said to exactly say the truth.

34:51I like your world.

34:53I like you.

34:53That's a sweetire.

From Grief to Greatness: Climate Grief, Resilience & Preparedness with Elizabeth Doerr | S03E03

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended