Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Shannon MF Low's avatar

I needed this today. I’ve had so much grief during the heat dome, and in the weeks after, as temperatures rise again and smoke from wildfires has forced my family inside. AC on. Air cleaners on. CO2 levels inside rising. Our own personal climate disaster. And we’re the lucky ones, with technology to assist us, but it’s built on the same systems causing our distress. Endless circle of guilt and fear. This is not the summer of my youth in the Rocky Mountains of Canada and I’m devastated that my teens may never know the easy, carefree times that I was gifted. Thank you for putting words to my feelings and giving me ideas snd hope. But first I must grieve.

Expand full comment
Philip Somervell's avatar

Thanks for all this. Personally, I find Zen Buddhist thinking very helpful on the subject of death and coping with fears of the future. But I would also like to see more focus on helping the rest of our world, not just our own species— without the continuation of the rest of our beautiful world — animals, plants, birds, entire ecosystems— life to me would hardly seem worth living. Humans are more adaptable— but because of the rate and extent of the changes, other species, and the ecosystems on which they depend, are in many cases going extinct. And they are what makes life worth living, not just the humans (I live in ALaska, not in an urban mega-city).This too will affect us all, even people who are not “nature lovers” or whatever. Isn’t that also a priority? I think it implies added emphasis on slowing and stopping climate change, and helping the rest of Creation adapt as well.

Expand full comment
10 more comments...

No posts