Eco-Anxiety? Really?

The Good Steward

 Considering the world of psychological and mental health disorders, dysfunction and diagnosis, I wasn't quite sure what to think when I heard about the condition Eco-Anxiety that the American Psychological Association states is increasing, and commonly found throughout the world, with the on set of rapid climate change.

 Not surprisingly, those living in isolated areas of the North are bearing witness to the affects of climate change and have been at the forefront of raising awareness of this anxiety that is threatening the destruction of  habitat, their environment, and even our world.

  When I was a kid I had a friend who's parents immigrated to Canada from Denmark. I vividly recall my friend's mother, who I think was way ahead of her time, considering it was 1966, 51 years ago, giving us fairly regular health lessons about our bodies and the environment.

 As we huddled over the kitchen table, Annette's mother would show us text books with pictures of healthy and unhealthy bodies, about breast cancer and  the like and discuss diseases. I think they must have been European medical books. She was also was very informed about global warming, explaining to us in detail how the green house affect was going to be devastating to our world, if there wasn't some preventative action taken.

 Looking back, these facts she shared were disconcerting to a couple of prepubescent girls. I know her intention was to try and prepare us for what was to come. But the thought of the greenhouse affect really did make me anxious then, and couldn't imagine what I could possibly do about it, which left me with a feeling of dread.

 I'm certain Annette was use to all these kinds of reality lessons from her mother, but I wasn't. My parents were basically comfortably ignorant, struggling with their own issues and so we were all just trying to be happy, and that seemed to be a hard enough thing to do, let alone taking on the causes of climate change that no one had ever heard of yet.

I'm not complaining about Annette's mother's lessons. I'm glad she tried to educate us at such a young age. It's something I never forgot about, and of course I'm now acutely more aware of health and environmental issues today, and I think Annette's mum was in part responsible for me being this way.

Eco-anxiety isn't something I am overwhelmed with. Having a sense of humour helps, but there sure are times when I feel despondent and about the state of the world, how greed and power supersedes the health and welfare of humanity.

Like the proactive, good steward David Suzuki says, he has to have hope, and so I too have to remain hopeful, and concentrate on proactively practicing good stewardship, instead of staying stuck in Eco- Anxiety.

Hope In Action

It the midst of so many problems throughout the world, plus natural disasters, like the wild fire in Fort McMurray, Alberta and in other parts of Canada, the knowing or perhaps not knowing, what to contributes to these events, may seem irrelevant to some.

First and foremost compassion is needed, putting aside all the political discourse and agendas, that will only antagonize an already disparate situation. After this, at some point, as human beings we do need and want to know why things happen. We try to either make sense of what has happened, needing to find some kind of meaning within these events.

It is essential that if we can know the antecedents or causes, then hopefully we can either find solutions or take preventative measures for a better future ahead, in being prepared so we can adapt. That said, hope alone is not enough. There must be hope in action.

Life can change and does change in the millisecond. Places and things can be replaced, but people can't. And what's most important in life, is our relationship with others and how we love our fellow human beings.

Educating ourselves, is key to change, so we can prepare ourselves as much as possible for dramatic change that we need to adapt to. Much of life is beyond our control and we can quickly drive ourselves crazy worrying about the people, places and things that we can't control. Learning to wear the world as a loose garment and to let go, is a very important life lesson, which I know is easier said than done.

Lately I found I kept coming back to a Ideas program I heard with journalist, social-scientist, and human rights activist Kevin Bales who wrote Blood and Earth. Frankly it shocked me, and would have left me feeling pretty hopeless if I hadn't heard his hopeful message of hope in action.

Feather Fur and Fin

Glaciers are losing mass in the North Cascades, where Pelto's father has done work for decades monitoring glacier retreat and related changes. Annual glacier mass balance data is represented in the painting.
Credit: Jill Pelto

Fifty years ago when I was 12 years old, I had a friend whose mum and dad had been immigrants from Denmark. Her mother was very much a mother, a house wife and gave both my friend, her daughter and I an education that really stuck with me all these years. She was ahead of her time, in that she told us about what she called the green house effect, why white bread was not good for us and a number of other health lessons with photo illustrated textbooks. When I reflect on that time spent in Annette's kitchen with her mother, who opened our eyes wide about such serious adult matters, I didn't realize then how pertinent those lessons would become later in my life. We may of been 12 years old, but we understood this information was important.

Regardless if you call it global warming, climate change or the greenhouse effect is irrelevant, because the fact is, it is here and for me it has become the number one concern, because I love our earth and all of it's inhabitants, the two legged, the four legged, feather, fur and fin.

As David Suzuki says we must remain hopeful for our children. We must not loose hope and we must continue to work at saving out planet, if we want our earth to be here for future generations.

When artists can make their art a vehicle to get this message across about climate change, it can be a powerful way to inform and change the world. Danny Michel is one such artist, as is Jill Pelto.

Moments of Observation - Jill Pelto

Severn Cullis-Suzuki