An invitation
Rest, connect, reset, recharge for revolution
If you’re subscribed to this newsletter, I know you care, at least a little, about our planetary crisis and its intersecting injustices. But I also know firsthand that caring, especially caring a lot, can be a lonely, difficult thing.
Eco-inspired grief, worry, despair, and anger may come to visit us on the regular. Managing those feelings can be especially tricky because society doesn’t really want you to talk about them, lest it disrupt business as usual.
These socially unsanctioned feelings about the fate of the world and all its beings are a kind of disenfranchised grief. Like grief in the wake of pregnancy loss or a loved one’s death by suicide, they’re a socially awkward kind of sorrow—something people don’t know how to respond to, and definitely something that’s not dropped into pre-meeting chit chat or on the sidelines of your kid’s soccer game.
Disenfranchised grief makes it easy to feel alone or even unhinged. But you are not alone, and eco distress is a sign of a compassionate heart and an alert mind.
If we want some measure of peace as we fight for a just and healthy world, we need to acknowledge these feelings and find a way to live with them.
One of the most useful things I’ve done to help manage my own big climate feelings is participate in online facilitated climate anxiety sessions. Even staring into Zoom boxes, I felt less gaslit, less alone. I was able to see my feelings more clearly. I want others to have a more expansive version of that experience, and so I’ve designed a one-day retreat with that goal.
For a quarter of the price of an hour-long therapy session, I’m piloting a day of care and connection for us to get in touch with all of our climate feelings in a safe, nurturing environment. There will be gentle yoga, forest walking, nourishing food, and facilitated discussion to share our pain and our wisdom and, above all, show us we’re not alone.
This is for you if . . .
You sometimes struggle with eco anxiety, grief, anger, despair, or other difficult emotions connected to the climate crisis and its intersecting injustices.
You feel like most people can’t relate to your climate feelings.
You find it hard to find the time and space to process these feelings.
You want to meet other people who share your concerns.
Let’s take a break from the demands of our daily lives, and give ourselves the time and space to focus on something bigger, to care for ourselves and each other. While this retreat won’t cure your eco-distress, we’ll validate and explore difficult feelings, practise self-regulating activities, and work on expanding our window of tolerance so that we can remain informed and engaged without being as overwhelmed.
As Britt Wray puts it in her excellent book Generation Dread, “Are we going to let our feelings overrun and deplete us, or are we going to use our feelings to overrun the systems that are making us so unwell? If we don’t recognize our eco-distress, and learn to purposefully and justly transform it, we’ll miss the opportunity we have to use all this restless energy for a deeper purpose: to bring forth the future we owe each other by promoting solutions that have co-benefits for all people and the planet.”
The key details
Date: Saturday, September 24, 2022, 9:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Location: Erin, Ontario, the traditional lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit, just over an hour northwest of Toronto. This 25-acre private property has been lovingly stewarded by our hosts for over 30 years and has been a place of both activist organizing and refuge. Whenever I set foot there, my body sighs with happiness. (It’s also a great example of residential solar power and heat pump wizardry.) Our gathering will take place outside, weather permitting, or inside the meeting barn in case of rain. If you’d like to come by public transit, we’re happy to arrange a pickup and drop-off from the Georgetown GO Station. Carpooling may also be available.
Price: This is a beta offering, and I’m trying to figure out if this is a useful and sustainable model, so this event is by donation. Suggested donation is $50, to cover costs and a little of my time. If you need to give less, that’s okay. 10% of donations will be given to Indigenous Climate Action, which, among its other great work, helps promote restorative decolonial practices and tools for Indigenous activists.
Accessibility: Unfortunately, this property is not an accessible space. There are a few stairs to the meeting barn, and the all-gender bathrooms are not wheelchair accessible. The yoga class will be a gentle class suitable for beginners. The forest walk is on maintained trails and has some rolling hills. This is for people 18+.
Food: We’ll enjoy a delicious lunch (think soups, salad, hummus, fruit, fresh sourdough bread, and of course something sweet) and snacks and beverages will be available all day. While we’ll prioritize plant-based food, dietary accommodations will be made for anyone who needs them.
COVID protocols: To ensure everyone is safe and comfortable, any indoor gathering or activities will be masked. This event is only open to people with two or more COVID-19 vaccinations.
Technology: We’re retreating from the rest of the world, and that includes our phones. I ask all participants to have their phones on silent and out of sight for the day. I’ll provide an emergency contact line so vital messages can get through.
An important note: I will be facilitating these sessions, but I am not a mental health professional. That being said, the structure and content of these discussions is informed by the work of mental health professionals and other climate psychology experts. If you are in the deep end of climate grief (feelings of doom or despair that prevent you from doing regular daily activities), my heart goes out to you, and I hope you’ll seek out a climate-aware therapist.
Tentative schedule
Everything will be done outdoors, weather permitting.
9:30–9:45 Welcome, land acknowledgment
9:45–11:15 Group discussion
11:30–12:30 Gentle hatha yoga led by Jill Macpherson
12:30–1:15 Lunch
1:15–2:15 Group discussion & reflection
2:15–3:15 Mindful forest walk
3:30–4:30 Group discussion & reflection
4:30–5:00 Guided meditation & closing
Programming officially ends at 5, but if you’d like to linger a bit to spend more time with your fellow participants or with the trees, we’ll hold space for that until 5:30.
I’m keeping this to an intimate group, so if you’d like to register, pop over to Eventbrite ASAP.
If you’re interested in this sort of thing but can’t make this date, please click reply and let me know, and I’ll keep you in the know about future dates. Also, if attending an in-person event isn’t possible for you, but you’re intrigued, I do recommend beginning with the free online one-hour sessions though Climate Awakening. (I’ve also written about the importance of talking about climate feelings before. Check out that newsy if you missed it.)
I so hope some of you can make it and we can connect IRL. Let’s retreat to a space where we can explore hard things as we cultivate connection, courage, and resilience — all essential to creating a better world.
xo
JK
P.S. A special note to introverts: If this intrigues you but is also giving you a creeping sense of dread, I get it. (ISTJ right here.) I’m structuring this day with you in mind. The larger conversations are all facilitated, and small talk is not required. At any point you’re welcome to take some time in the trees to recharge. But also: one introvert to another, you can do this.
Photo credits: Opening photo by Niklas Hamann on Unsplash, forest path by Jen Knoch, fields and barns by Liz Armstrong.
I hope this goes as wonderfully as it sounds and that it warrants another iteration that I can attend! 💓