How to live in a chaotic climate 10 steps to reconnect with ourselves, our communities, and our planet

LaUra Schmidt

Book - 2023

"The challenges facing our earth can feel overwhelming-recent research shows that more than 70% of Americans are worried about climate change and 51% say they feel helpless. Among millennials and Gen Z the numbers are even higher. How to Keep Your Cool While the World Is On Fire offers ten steps to help nourish, ground, and inspire anyone who is worried about climate change. Filled with exercises and reflection questions, the steps help readers process grief, uncertainty, and painful emotions, while also looking towards where we can make positive changes-in both big and small ways. Laura Schmidt and Aimee Lewis-Reau started the Good Grief Network, one of the first emotional support groups for eco-anxiety and climate grief. There are no...w chapters all over the world following these same ten steps - and these steps can help you too. They draw on wisdom and mindfulness practices, as well as the work of longtime activists like Joanna Macy. The steps encourage a heart-centered revolution and reconnection with ourselves, our communities, and our planet"--

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Subjects
Genres
Self-help publications
Published
Boulder, Colorado : Shambhala Publications, Inc [2023]
Language
English
Main Author
LaUra Schmidt (author)
Other Authors
Aimee (Co-founder of Good Grief Network) Lewis Reau (author), Chelsie Rivera
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
xviii, 324 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 285-302) and index.
ISBN
9781611809930
  • A Letter from the Authors
  • Preface
  • "Funeral for a Future"
  • Introduction
  • We Belong to Each Other: Thoughts on Community
  • Step 1. Accept the Severity of the Predicament
  • Step 2. Be with Uncertainty
  • Step 3. Honor My Mortality and the Mortality of All
  • Step 4. Do Inner Work
  • Step 5. Develop Awareness of Biases and Perception
  • Step 6. Practice Gratitude, Seek Beauty, and Create Connections
  • Step 7. Take Breaks and Rest
  • Step 8. Grieve the Harm I Have Caused
  • Step 9. Show Up
  • Step 10. Reinvest in Meaningful Efforts
  • Outro and Onward
  • Appendix: "Bedrock"
  • Glossary
  • Recommendations for Deeper Dives
  • Notes
  • Acknowledgments
  • Index
  • About the Authors
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

In this thoughtful debut, Schmidt, who, with Reau, cofounded the environmental nonprofit Good Grief Network, unpacks their organization's core focus: a 10-step program aimed at tackling climate anxiety and promoting environmental activism. Outlining a program based in emotional health and community connection, Schmidt advises readers to fully experience their grief, rage, and fear, which are "totally normal responses to a hurting planet." Processing these emotions, she explains, can "orient us to be a catalyst for profound change." Once reconnected "with ourselves," Schmidt continues, "we can... begin to reconnect with people, animals the larger world." This can mean joining a climate change support group or activist organization, whose powerful problem-solving capabilities come from their ability to generate "creative pathways that simply cannot happen when we are alone." Readers should also engage in "meaningful action" tailored to their individual passions and skills, whether that means planting an organic garden or participating in nonviolent civil disobedience. Schmidt offers a rousing counter to the notion of suffering in silence here, though her emphasis on emotional work sometimes comes at the cost of a more concrete vision of activism. This will serve as a balm for those who feel panicked about the planet's future. (Aug.)

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