“The wellbeing of the ecosystem of the planet is a prior condition for the well being of humans. We cannot have well being on a sick planet, not even with our medical science. So long as we continue to generate more toxins that the planet can absorb and transform, the members of the Earth community will become ill. Human health is derivative. Planetary health is primary.” - Howard Clinebell from Ecotherapy: Healing Ourselves, Healing the Earth
What is Eco-Grief & Climate Anxiety?
Anxiety is our bodies natural response to stress. It's a feeling of fear or apprehension about what's to come. It's a survival-based response that can increase your heart rate, constrict your muscles, make you sweat, accelerate your breathing and can take over as a sense of urgency, worry, and preoccupation. It's important to remember that anxiety is a natural, human response to real or perceived threats that prepare the nervous system to respond with fight or flight.
Climate anxiety is a term that captures a very unique manifestation of anxiety given the times in which we live, specifically related to climate collapse and Earth devastation. It acknowledges and gives voice to the pain of disconnection that is particular to this current stage in the human story and our relationship to the rest of the living biosphere. Humans are interdependent with the whole of the planet, which means that whatever happens to the greater body of Earth happens to us, whether we are able to feel it or not.
Those who are conscious of the violence against Earth often feel the despair deeply in their bodies, and this can often be expressed through grief - a very healthy way to process pain, fear, and anxiety. It's important to note that just because some people are unaware or not yet ready to confront what is happening, does not mean that they are not impacted. Living under Industrial Growth Society is inherently traumatizing and disconnecting, which means that it takes a certain capacity, resilience, and inner resourcing to lean into the despair without letting it swallow you whole. As a result of cultural trauma (oppression and violence of capitalism, colonization, heteropatriarchy, etc.), many people develop maladaptive coping strategies that keep them from feeling the extent of the pain.
There is a growing awareness of the ecological crisis because it's gotten to a point of such severity it's no longer easy to ignore or deny: extreme weather changes and an increase of wildfires, hurricanes, floods, droughts, and destruction of homes, wildlife, and habitats. There are documentaries, newscasts, and dire pronouncements by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) reporting global warming, melting ice-caps, overpopulation, and worldwide economic and systemic collapse. As our awareness grows of our human impacts towards Mother Earth and the threat She/we are under, so does our anxiety, depression, guilt, shame and grief.
In his book, Ecotherapy: Healing Ourselves, Healing the Earth, Howard Clinebell states that:
"Grief is an often hidden component of the reality based feelings triggered by the day by day evidence of our deteriorating environment. Sensitive people often feel such ecological losses very personally. Such grief feelings for our earth home, mingled with ecological anger and guilt, are appropriate for all of us today. In addition to environmental losses close at hand, these feelings are triggered by:
The loss of green, clean, healthy places near where people live
The continuing losses of the richness of biodiversity
The crowding and loss of green space caused by exploding populations
The extinction of plants with as yet undiscovered pharmaceutical healing powers
And the painful loss of dreams- for a healthy world for oneself and one’s children and grandchildren"
I would also add the following:
Emergency evacuations as a result of extreme climate events
Being displaced by climate-related natural disasters
Not being able to breathe fresh air
Loss of cherished places where there were once memories
Fear and sadness for those who don't have the privilege to leave unsafe places
He goes on to say that....
"Many earth-literate people also feel considerable anticipatory grief about expected future losses in nature. Anticipatory grief is especially prevalent in children and adolescents as they become aware of the increasingly threatened future of the natural world in which they will live... The hopeful side of all this is that many children and young people respond more eagerly to ecological education than adults. Calling this pain what it really is - grief - can help identify amorphous feelings of discomfort, loss, depression, and sadness about the environmental crisis, and facilitate movement toward using that energy for earth-caring action."
The Waking Up Syndrome
6 Stages of Ecological Grief
This next section is largely informed by Sarah Anne Edwards and Linda Buzzel, from the book, Ecotherapy: Healing with Nature in Mind. They share with us The Waking-Up Syndrome, which is a six stage ecological grief cycle inspired by Elisabeth Kubler‘s work on grief.
1. Denial
Denial can take on many forms, but it's important to understand that denial is among the most common defense mechanisms. It occurs when you refuse to accept reality or facts. You block external events or circumstances from your mind so that you don't have to deal with the emotional impact. In other words, you avoid the painful feelings or events.
Under colonial capitalism, we have been fed a false narrative of history that blinds us to the violence of reality so as to justify the costs in pursuit of the "American Dream." For generations, we have been complicit is systems of oppression that not only wreak havoc on the earth, but on people who make up the majority of humanity. Waking up to our complicity in systems of harm is a hard pill to swallow, one that is layered with deep feelings of shame, sorrow, and grief. In this way, denial serves to uphold the status quo and the privileges/benefits we've been afforded as a result . This keeps us from seeing our own complicity and taking responsibility for our role in creating change.
In their book, Edwards and Buzzel describe the first stage in this way:
"When we first get the inkling of the shifting environmental reality and its potential impacts...most people begin by denying it. Some might say, “I don’t believe it, '' or “Earth has moved through cycles of intense climate change before.” We simply deny the existence of any such concerns and refuse to consider them. This might include latching eagerly onto the few remaining naysayers for confirmation and comfort. But as the number of reputable skeptics dwindles, this response offers less and less comfort. Others respond with, “it’s not a problem.” We may admit a change is taking place but deny that it’s significant, seeing macro-issues such as climate change and economic fluctuations as part of a normal pattern of ups and downs. Or we may interpret these issues as spiritual or religious questions, regarding them as a test of faith, a sign of global spiritual awakening, or evidence of a long-awaited apocalypse. Even those who acknowledge that disaster looms may conclude that there’s nothing they personally can do about it and they needn’t worry because some expert will come up with a solution in time to save us. Lastly, we might think, “It’s useless to try to do anything.” This is often just an excuse to eat, drink, and be merry, What will be, will be. Or this attitude can mask more self-destructive conditions like depression and addiction. "
2. Semi-Consciousness
Semi-Consciousness is the stage when we begin to sense a shift in our perception. Where we once felt secure and comfortable now feels uncertain and unfamiliar. The terrain of our life is changing which can bring up feelings of insecurity. This is a very uncomfortable stage because denial has served to protect you from seeing and feeling the pain of the world. The security blanket or veil is finally being lifted.
For this stage, Edwards and Buzzel write that...
"In spite of the various ways we may try to discount what’s happening to our environment (and consequently to our economy and whole way of life), as evidence mounts around us and the news coverage escalates, we may begin to feel a vague sense of anxiety, depression, confusion. Some express this as anger, while others redirect their uneasy feelings toward other parts of their lives, perhaps blaming family members or jobs for their undefined discomfort. In either case, the threat to the planet is beginning to be felt, experienced and an awareness is stirring."
3. Awakening
Awakening is like a thunder bolt, but it can often feel like a slap in the face or even a punch in the gut. For many, awakening to the inevitability and severity of our collective and planetary troubles doesn't happen by choice, rather it happens as a result of circumstances and especially in times of crises. At such moments, we realize that these global issues are affecting our daily lives, bringing challenges to life as we know it and causing pain and suffering for many, including ourselves and those we love. Our scope of understanding the current devastation begins to sink in on a visceral level. In one of her latest writings, Agony in the Garden, Sophie Strand puts in beautifully when she says:
"If we can begin to understand that we are less atomic individuals, and more a meshwork of relationships, constituted by the soil, the people, the weather systems, the airborne spores, that lie flush against our skin, rebuild our cells with each inhalation, and seep from our pores, than what does it mean to have an eco-awakening?"
Awakening to the truth is often experienced as a painful process, since what you thought you knew and the level of comfort you enjoyed before (as a result of dissociation/disembodiment) is largely disturbed and rightly questioned. Awakening can be destabilizing and can lead you to questioning or evaluating your current life path and trajectory. If we find that these uncomfortable insights and associated sensations are too much to bear, we can easily slip back into denial. That is why at this stage it is very important to seek out support, such as grief circles or an eco-therapist to work with. Once awake, the ecological crisis becomes glaringly real. It's not something we can just turn off, un-see what we now see, or un-feel what we now feel.
For this stage, Edwards and Buzzel write that...
"The moment we realize, even briefly, that we’ve entered a dangerous new world that no longer agrees with what we’ve always believed, our genetic wiring kicks in, and our physiological and emotional threat responses can take many forms. Some of us become obsessive news-watchers, documentary-film goers, internet compulsives, or book readers, needing to know more and more about what’s really happening. We may talk so excessively about gloom and doom or express so much anxiety that those close to us are profoundly affected. Loved ones may think we’ve gone nuts. "
The more dysregulated and un-resourced a person is, the greater the risk is for falling into depression or experiencing extreme overwhelm that could lead to panic attacks. If something about the current eco-trauma and/or economic disaster re-triggers trauma patterns in our lives, we may have a post-traumatic stress disorder reaction. Even normally resilient types may throw themselves obsessively into save-the-planet and other activities, soon to become exhausted from trying to overcome what no single person can.
4. Shock
The experience of shock is one of disorientation. Life has been flipped upside down and turned inside out. Those rosy colored glasses have been ripped off your face. This is the moment when we feel like we're Neo walking through the Matrix.
In the movie "The Matrix," the main character Neo was living an ordinary life as a computer programmer but felt that something was not right, i.e. there was some essential truth he was missing. Neo meets illusive Morpheus, who claimed to know `the truth'. When they meet Morpheus gives him a choice of two pills: the red pill is a path of finding out the truth behind the lies, providing the opportunity to forever change your knowledge and perception of reality. Taking the blue pill instead, on the other hand, is to choose a life of ignorance, refusing to shatter the illusion you’re living in. In the context of the film, taking the red pill means that Neo will discover he is basically a slave to a dream world sculpted by machines. Of course, there is no going back after learning something so shocking. If he were to take the blue pill, he would continue to live in this comfortable simulation, but ultimately, it’s a prison.
Neo ends up taking the red pill and moves from Denial to Awakening in an instant. This radical shift in consciousness is shocking as he begins to wake up to the truth of the world. This movie illustrates the nature of these times, especially as it relates to the machine of Industrial Growth Society and the very real consequences we will have to face in the coming years. There is a real truth to which most people in the world are oblivious, and the stakes are extremely high in regard to which account of reality we live by.
For this stage, Edwards and Buzzel write that...
"Once awakened, most of us find there is no turning back, especially as economic and environmental changes intensify. We travel ever deeper down the rabbit hole. Whatever methods of denial we’ve employed no longer quell our concerns. We must finally confront the enormity of the situation. One of the most difficult aspects of this stage is the profound but unavoidable feeling of isolation and disconnection. We now inhabit a reality we can no longer ignore, but it’s one that few others seem to notice. The result is a bizarre sense of the surreal. We’ve seen the reality behind the curtain and no longer believe that the much-vaunted consumerist way of life will solve our problems. In fact, we now realize that the excesses of consumer culture are actually the underlying cause of much of the devastation, so we find ourselves living in an upside-down world compared to most of our neighbors. Interaction and communication can become a challenge. How do we relate to a world that’s no longer real to us, but is still business as usual to most? Do we try to reach out to others about the difficult new realities? Or is it better to act as if nothing has changed, just to get along? "
5. Despair
Despair arrives as the dust begins to settle after the shock wave. We are awake and can no longer go back to sleep. The comfort of denial is no longer available to us, and now we must embrace our humanity, come home to our bodies, come back to earth and the suffering of being interconnected and all that comes with it. As Sophie Strand writes in Agony In the Garden:
"We have been numb for so long that we no longer understand the body we are harming is an extension of our own body. When we clear cut a forest or drive another population of birds extinct, we do not somatically register that we are twisting a knife in our own side.
Eco-awakening is an emergency. And if it is done right, it is going to be extremely uncomfortable. It is going to be agony. What does it mean, to suddenly be able to feel the whole story, the full impact of the accident, every raw-spot where a plant, a fungi, a beaver once lived? What song does it make when it plays through your own nervous system?"
The pain of the world is experienced as despair and a natural response to the grave injustices of these times is rage. Rage is a very natural part of the grief process, so it's important to honor this mobilizing energy as it moves you into passionate and creative action. Rage is a catalyst of inner transformation and awakens your inner power, love on fire. We begin to face reality head on and in the process come into deeper contact with the pain of the world.
For this stage, Edwards and Buzzel write that...
"The realization that one person, or even group or community, can’t stop climate change, depletion of resources, economic instability, species loss, or the multiple threats to human survival often leads to hopelessness, a sense of powerlessness, and even guilt. As events spiral out of control, we begin to grieve the loss of the world we have known and face the fact that our species-and even we as individuals- are responsible for much of what’s happening. Some have suggested that this stage is similar to the depression stage in Kubler-Ross’s traditional grief cycle. It is, indeed, a low point in the waking up process, but this state of mind differs significantly from the normal experience of personal grief. Grief that occurs after a loss usually ends with acceptance with what’s been lost, and then one adjusts and goes on. But this despair is not a onetime loss that one learns overtime to move on from. It’s more like the process of accepting a degenerative illness - a chronic permanent state that will continue to worsen, probably for the entire lifetime of most people alive today."
6. Empowerment
The final stage of the grief process is empowerment. As we come back into our bodies and open ourselves to feeling the pain of the world, digesting our own trauma's, and expanding our sense of self to include the more-than-human world, a great amount of energy and power that was previously stuck in denial becomes unleashed.
"When you start to really feel it – the sapphire sharp sorrow of the butterflies, the rivers, the cavernous boom of whale song ballooning your own moan, you will also give a sigh of relief. To feel is to know you are real. Really here. And really bigger than you ever thought you were." - Sophie Strand, Agony in the Garden
Facing our feelings about the state of the world is actually a very essential step toward embodying active hope that is necessary for doing all that you can to care for the earth.
For this stage, Edwards and Buzzel write that...
"As we come to accept the limits of our ability to overcome the challenges, we also discover what power we do have in this situation. We are no longer compelled to try to save the world as we have known it or hold onto a reality that no longer makes sense. Instead our concerns shift to feelings of gratitude for what we value most and a compelling curiosity about how we can carry those aspects of our lives forward. Suddenly we’re free to pursue what Kunstler calls “the intelligent response,” seeking and taking whatever creative, constructive action will best sustain those aspects of life that are most important to us."
As already mentioned, rage is a mobilizing force designed to promote survival. Anger drives people to be extremely vigilant about threats and sharpens our focus. Through the process of the Eco-Grief Cycle, we become honed to our brilliance as we begin to understand the sacred nature of this energy and learn how to channel our righteous rage into meaningful and creative action. The rage that often comes with despair opens the floodgates of love - our love this world. This love often begins to manifest as a deep soul calling to live life on fire in devotion to that which is greater than ourselves - the healing of our world.
"We need to help each other come back into our bodies. Bodies that have inflicted genocide and ecocide and self-harm. Bodies that have denied that their shot arrows have a way of curving back into their own breasts. The bodies that flow beyond the sterile fiction of a self into the ecosystem where concrete blankets the kingdom, and Round-Up fries the garden.
Let us begin to honor that while embodiment is our birthright, so is discomfort. This is not going to be all pleasure. In fact, the birth canal into ecological embodiment is going to be tight and hot and intense. Waking up to the Animate Everything of this excruciating, wild, bumptious, dying, breath-taking now is going to hurt. But the pain is what tells us to move." - Sophie Strand, Agony in the Garden
Earth Trauma
Our roots have been severed from our only home. We are alienated from the earth, disconnected from the energizing, life-enhancing connectedness with nature. This eco-alienation and separation from the vital source of nourishment is traumatic. This splitting off from our interconnection with the natural world impacts the harmonization of our whole mind-body-spirit connection. Thus, in order to come back into harmony with self and earth one must begin the journey of reclaiming one's interconnected self, a process that Howard Clinebell describes as "discovering, befriending, and intentionally developing one’s rootedness in the life-giving biosphere [which] produces what is called healthy biophilia and eco-bonding" (Clinebell 26).
We fear dependency in our hyper individualistic culture, yet we are dependent on our beloved planet Earth. We cannot deny this. Our relationship with the earth, mother-father of all living things, is a foundational factor to our overall wellness and the wholeness of our identity. And yet, the cultural beliefs, narratives, social pathologies, and systems of violence enacted under Industrial Growth Society foster separation between the human-earth relationship rather than nurture the bond that is inherent. These include but are not limited to: white supremacy, racial capitalism, the prison industrial complex, widening wealth gap, economic oppression, environmental injustice, racism, sexism, classism, militarism, consumerism, age-ism, species-ism, the list goes on. (Clinebell 181)
On a somatic, subcortical level (non-cognitive), our bodies carry the impacts of a sick planet which can be felt in our nervous systems. We are sick. Humans are unwell and the current culture we have created feeds this dis-ease. It is all around us. The accumulation of stressors living under the pressurized system of Industrial Growth Society amounts to a form of Complex PTSD. "Clinical evidence suggests that chronic noise pollution and deprivation of quietness may contribute to diminished wellness. Studies of stress levels in overcrowded, polluted, noisy cities suggest that chronic noise, with no respites of relative quiet, may contribute to our society’s epidemic of chronic stress overload" (Clinebell 196). The fast-pace movement of our production based culture amplifies a dysregulated nervous systems. The intellectual stimulation with the constant noise, and the fast-pace movements sets up a system for stress, collapse, and sickness. We must nurture ourselves and earth back to health.
Earth Bonding
Earth bonding and care is the antidote to the ongoing felt impact of Earth Trauma in our lives. Internal bonding with nature and external bonding with the living community of the biosphere influences the quality of all other aspects of our identity and life. It is a necessary component of the Empowerment Stage of the Eco-Grief Cycle. We need to restore a sense of ground, a securely rooted bond with earth, in order to access our full power and potential. This sense of groundedness strengthens sensations of safety, security and trust as we move into greater uncertainty in the years ahead.
Psychologist and pastoral therapist James B. Ashbrook understands intimate bonding with the natural world as involving:
“The undefended curiosity and attending engagement of the young child...[which] is oriented to the world in an expectant and open way. The result is parasympathetic relaxation in the autonomic nervous system with its own restorative immune-strengthening processing. One is freed of having to defend oneself in terms of survival and self-esteem. All one’s energy goes into engaging the world instead of defending against the world.”
The trustful response during such a non-fight-or-flight-or-freeze relating to the mothering earth is comparable to an infant’s relaxed body-mind response when bonding empathically with a loving, trustful, nurturing caregiver. Earth is our primary caregiver, and cultivating a consistent bond with earth changes our neurobiological programming over time, giving new shape to our identities and to how we navigate the landscape of our lives. This, in turn, has a ripple effect. As we heal, Earth heals.
Befriending Your Eco-Grief & Climate Anxiety
Eco-Grief and Climate Anxiety are natural human responses to the life-threatening acceleration of destruction and harm perpetuated by the beast that is Industrial Growth Society. If you are feeling the pain of the world, we honor your survival instincts kicking in and the inherent connection you share with the whole of life. This is a good indication that you are alive and feeling the extent of what it means to be human right now.
That doesn't mean you have to struggle with these big feelings alone. MANY people feel the same way you do and are coming together in very powerful ways to channel their creative life force into taking meaningful action and developing networks, strategies, and movements that embody hope and invite us to lean into the discomfort of these times, while simultaneously leading deeply fulfilling lives with room to thrive. What seems paradoxical is that when we begin to allow ourselves feel the pain of the world and stop running from it, we actually start opening to even greater joy, gratitude and love that comes from knowing that we only ever have right now, that life is precious, and that our joy is an expression of power, and it has a place in this unfolding story. Our joy and pleasure is resistance.
Perhaps that's a whole other blog topic, but here are some ways to start working with and befriending your Eco-Grief and Climate Anxiety:
1. Change Your Lifestyle Habits
As we wake up to the harm of our collective actions, it's a very normal part of the process to explore how you are responsible in your own life to perpetuating the harm by virtue of being imbedded within the system of Industrial Growth Society. Changing our lifestyle habits is an important first step of waking up and aligning our actions to our values (but whatever you do, don't stop here). Here are some ideas:
Biking, walking, public transit or ride sharing versus driving if and when possible
Sourcing your food locally and organically if and when possible
Being very selective with how you obtain good, especially when ordering online (ex. boycotting amazon)
Take a vow to thrift shop for clothes and home goods only. Allow yourself very specific exceptions that are clear.
Explore
Try going plastic free
Plant trees
2. Join a Movement, Organization, or Network
Join a community of people who are channeling their sacred rage and grief into collective action and earth care. Becoming a part of a community will help alleviate feelings of isolation and within these spaces you will find that you are not alone. You are among comrades and allies fighting for a more beautiful and just world. Here are a list of organizations in NC worth checking out:
Bioregionalism is all about coming back into relationship with the more-than-human world and expanding our awareness, sense of self, and community identity to include the naturally occurring elements of life that inform our everyday lived experience. It is a vision of the world in which human culture is grounded in natural systems and is informed by the relationships that make up those systems.
Bioregionalism involves reclaiming ways of being that once were practiced the world over; things like knowing the names of birds by the songs they sing, or the medicinal uses of plants growing in your backyard, or knowing the migration patterns of certain animals throughout the seasons. Being attuned to such things brings us into a deeper relationship with the places we call home and expands our awareness and sense of self to include the more-than-human world.
Things to consider learning might include:
Birds of your bioregion
Trees
Edible plants
Watershed
Indigenous history and territories
We'll be offering a bioregional nature study coming up in early 2022, so be sure subscribe to our newsletter if you're interested in taking part!
4. Find a Support Group
By finding others who share our concerns and views, we can share resources and develop practices and rituals that allow us to process emotions and digest our grief. This strengthens our resilience and deepens bonds of intimacy with others. Where once we felt alone in our feelings, we now have a place to share and alchemize them as we explore the power hidden within them. Some people have formed reading or study groups. Others are becoming more active in re-localization efforts. Still others are banding together to create mutual aid networks and turning their neighborhoods into sustainable eco-hoods, exploring options for co-housing, or joining a local Transition Initiative.
5. Nature or Eco-Therapy
Nature Therapy is a holistic healing modality which maintains that tending our connection with the more-than-human world is necessary for thriving. Informed by Systems Theory, this modality honors the fact that we are intimately embedded within and inseparable from Earth. Nature Therapy recognizes that our identity formation is influenced at a deep somatic level by our early experiences in nature, by our parents' ways of relating with nature, and by our culture’s narrative of the natural world.
The path of nature-based spirituality is for those who feel connected to the living presence and divine essence of Earth and who want to explore and deepen their love with earth. We are being called to mend our estrangement from the web of life, to remember our belongingness to land, and to allow space in our lives to be re-enchanted by the song of Earth.
Nature-based Spirituality can be a solo venture and can also happen in the context of community. Either way, here are a few ways to begin cultivating Nature-based Spirituality:
Cultivate prayer or silence in nature
Find a Sit Spot or Nature Study place that you visit often
Mindful Walking in Nature
Uncovering and reclaiming earth-based traditions from your ancestral lineage
Personal Eco-Spiritual Mentorship: Embodied Transformational Coaching
Conclusion
Whether we want to admit it or not, collectively we are unwell... and this scares us. What ails humanity at this time is a deep separation from the source of our spiritual sustenance and our embedded aliveness within the greater body of Earth. This has resulted in a collective forgetting of the sacred in our lives, exemplified by the abusive, pathological relationship that the majority of humans currently have with each other and Earth.
Eco-Grief and Climate Anxiety are sensations and feelings that arise in our bodies (since we are extensions of Earth) in response to the lunacy and violence of our collective ways as expressed through Industrial Growth Society. As interconnected life forms, we belong and are imbedded within the earthly biosphere and who are dependent upon the entire planetary system for survival and thriving. What threatens Earth, threatens us all. Eco-Grief and Climate Anxiety are very normal and healthy survival responses to a situation that is threatening life as we know it.
Earth is calling to humanity through the collective discomfort of these times and is asking each of us to rise and reclaim our purpose in service to planetary healing. This is no easy task since it demands of us that we move through the stages of Eco-Grief, with denial being the first and most difficult stage to move beyond. It’s not easy being fully alive in these times but these are the times in which we live. This is what spiritual initiation feels like. We have to wake up. And many are as they move through through the stages of Denial, Semi-Consciousness, Awakening, Shock, Despair, and ultimately Empowerment.
A shift in consciousness is taking place as more people begin to reckon with the past in order to re-story the present, to look deeply at the source of our pain and disconnection from Self, each other, and nature.
We have forgotten who we are.
We have alienated ourselves from the unfolding of the cosmos
We have become estranged from the movements of the earth
We have turned our backs on the cycles of life
We have forgotten who we are.
We have sought only our own security
We have exploited simply for our own ends
We have distorted our knowledge
We have abused our power.
We have forgotten who we are.
Now the land is barren
And the waters are poisoned
And the air is polluted.
We have forgotten who we are.
Now the forests are dying
And the creatures are disappearing
And humans are despairing.
We have forgotten who we are.
We ask forgiveness
We ask for the gift of remembering
We ask for the strength to change.
We have forgotten who we are.
- UN Environmental Sabbath Program
References
Clinebell, Howard. Ecotherapy: Healing Ourselves, Healing the Earth. Routledge, 2013.
Edwards, Sarah Anne, and Linda Buzzel. “The Waking Up Syndrome.”Ecotherapy: Healing with Nature in Mind. Edited by Lunda Buzzel and Craig Chalquist. Counterpoint, 2009, 123-130.
Ratson, Moshe. “The Value of Anger: 16 Reasons It’s Good to Get Angry.” Good Therapy. March 13, 2017. https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/value-of-anger-16-reasons-its-good-to-get-angry-0313175.
Strand, Sophie. “Agony in the Garden.” Facebook. 2021. https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10227148038313492&set=a.1499832382446.
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