Saturday 9 July 2011

Anatomy of a Climate Depression - Part 2

As I mentioned in my previous post, the world really woke up to the climate crisis in 2006. I was no exception. Being a parent had changed and prioritized my thinking on a number of subjects, and of course I was now a lot more interested in the future of all things, especially the future of the world my kids would be adults in. My second kid was born in 2007, and during the pregnancy, I was actually starting to doubt having children in this world at all! Luckily, as with all things, no matter what happens off in the future, it is what's going on right now that's important, and having a second bundle of absolutely scrumptious cuddly baby-love set my worries aside - for the time being.

About two or three months after Halfdan was born, and the media was gearing up to cover the climate talks in Bali, the daily paper we keep was having a bonanza of climate news, publishing alarming articles for an entire week that brought me pretty much to my knees. No doubt post-partum hormones played in, one is naturally sensitive after a family augmentation in general, but I couldn't read the paper without feeling my chest constrict, my head grow hot, and finally, sobbing. I vividly remember walking around some nearby lakes with the baby buggy, looking around, feeling quite surreal about everything, and I had to call my husband in the middle of work, a blubbering mess. He was alarmed of course, to hear his normally cool, calm and collected wife this way. He beckoned me to come to his work, where we could have lunch and talk. That was my first real emotional outburst spurred by the climate crisis.

After that, the issue was really there for good. I calmed down a bit, enjoying my maternity leave without being too sad, but I was en garde at all times for news of climate change. I even wrote a blog post about it when it happened in October of 2007, on my other blog. It sums up exactly what was going through my head at the time. I can only say, that it is more or less how I still feel about it, only now, it is worse, but in a more rational way, if that is possible.

4 comments:

  1. Really interesting observations Jennie. Unfortunately, the sensitive ones feel the most sensitive about unwelcome change to the home environment (at all scales). We do need soliphilia to cope with all the negative change.

    Yours in soliphilia,

    Glenn Albrecht.

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  2. Dear Glenn - Thank you so much for commenting! Absolutely right about the sensitive ones. I will continue to broach the topic here, until I've exhausted my inner findings on this. I hope to put forth some good guidelines for people who find themselves where I am. There's a lot to be said and done, a lot to be written - look for future posts about climate activists, Bob Dylan concerts, and lawsuits! No doubt soliphilia will find its way to my blog too! :)

    Thanks for stopping by, thanks for enriching our language!

    xxx
    Jennie

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  3. Wow, how absolutely wonderful that Glenn Albrecht has visited your blog! I haven't read about soliphilia but I did a quick Google search and am intrigued and excited to read about it.

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  4. I know, I love the cloud! And I'm so appreciative of Glenn's terminology, having a proper word to describe my experience is such a relief.

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