Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
A conversation between National Academy of Sciences fellow Dr. Sarah Myhre and National Poetry Series winner Teresa K. Miller on bearing witness to the climate crisis through science and storytelling.
As Postman argued in a speech-turned-book in the 1980s, the future will probably look more like Brave New World than 1984, as we willingly numb ourselves—with media rather than Soma—and become passive and oppressed without even realizing it.
What can we learn about death from the X-Men, small screaming rodents, and unwitting college students in psychology experiments? It turns out that the fear of death (or death anxiety) affects human behavior in all sorts of surprising and deeply troubling ways.
What are the skills needed to witness grief and our deep relationality with the earth and other people? And how can these skills be woven into our community life?
The climate needs us to do more nothing—as it is our pursuit of growth and more, more, more (whether profit, stuff, or children) that is at the heart of our sustainability crisis.
Indeed, our negative emotions are used to divide and exploit us, to confuse us from seeing who (or what) is behind the curtain pulling the levers. You can stop that cycle, at least with your own life and your own consciousness.
Trauma is not conducive to creative thinking. Which brings us to another paradox of these times ― how do we slow down enough so that we can fully utilize our neocortex and listen to our hearts while addressing the real urgency and opportunity of this moment?
I salute every coronavirus gardener, and I dearly hope they will make a permanent habit of it! Because there are some excellent reasons to garden that have nothing to do with food security.
My take-away: the energy transition is an enormous job, and people who look at it just in terms of politics and policy have little understanding of what is actually required.
But sometimes when things are out of my control, when it’s impossible to tackle big stuff because the money isn’t there and restrictions are pushing from all sides, it feels really good to make a small change that is under my control. Especially if it’s something I’m staring at heaps of.
The days ahead will be days of pushing, struggling, campaigning and fighting. The old order does not let go easily. But they must also be days of attention, care, beauty, imagination. These days may prove to have just been the calm before the storm. But oh, what a calm it was.
What matters is that we commit ourselves to a practice that helps us to periodically reflect on who we are at our core, discipline our minds to be steady and clear, and grow in our capacity to be of greater service to others over time.
