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e140 saturation - how can we tap into our boundless streams of love, connection and meaning?
Season 4 Episode 140
my response to a colleague’s concern about feeling saturated by the omni presence of eco-awareness information
TRANSCRIPTION OF EPISODE
(bell and breath)
(sound of two climate shows at once then fade out)
I was talking with a colleague recently about how few people listen to ‘end of the world as we know it’ podcasts, such as this one.
And I think it’s because they’re so … fucking, depressing and grim. We are constantly reminded how awful things are and how much more awful they will become, with no credible way out.
Saturated
I used to think that art could help us with these entangled crises but I’m starting to think the role of art is more about the relationship between consolation and hope as my friend and colleague Azul Caroline Duque suggests.
Consolation and hope.
So it’s no wonder that we are:
Saturated, saturation
I also understand the impulse to become enraged as Joan Sullivan tells us in e106 fire - what can we do about our collective indifference? :
We’re just carrying on with our lives as if you know, la la la and nothing, nothing bad is happening. So there was this sense of rage. I mean, like, honestly, it’s surprising how strong it’d be in a violent rage just sort of coming outta me. I wanted to scream…
Saturation
So how do we channel our apathy and our rage? (In between the chorus)
Dr. Jennifer Atkinson’s Facing It podcast talks about the ‘emotional burden of climate change and why despair leaves so many people unable to respond to our existential threat’.
Do you feel unable to respond to existential threats?
Dr Atkinson reminds us that ‘our future remains unwritten, and by embracing the unknown we are better able to reframe our thinking in empowering ways’.
She explains that ‘the so-called negative feelings that arise in response to ecological disruption (grief, anxiety, anger) can be seen as signs of emotional health, while ‘undesirable’ states, like uncertainty, are potential doorways to transformation. Climate anxiety might even be seen as a kind of superpower.’
Saturation
In Generation Dread, Dr. Britt Wray reminds us that the age of eco-anxiety is upon us and that the afterglow of climate disasters radiate psychiatric trauma throughout the globe.
She also notes that ‘on the flip side, the tumultuous feelings that are on the rise are completely valid, need tending to, and present a great opportunity for justice-oriented personal, environmental, and social transformation.‘
So where do we go from here?
How do we address our feelings of…
Saturation
Dr Wray also suggests that ‘the positive in all this is that the torment comes bearing gifts. If you explore its depths, you’ll find a valve somewhere inside you that taps into the most existential part of yourself.
Once you open it, a boundless stream of love, connection, and meaning will always be at your back, fuelling what you do.’
Once you open it a boundless stream of love, connection, and meaning will always be at your back, fuelling what you do.
(sound of two climate shows at once then fade out)
How can we tap into our boundless streams of love, connection and meaning ?
Saturation
*
CREDITS
With thanks to Jennifer Atkinson and Britt Wray for using their words. They are both inspiring leaders for me.
This episode was created while I was in residence during the summer of 2023 at the Centre de production DAÏMÔN in Gatineau Québec as part of the fourth edition of Radio-Hull 28 days of programming from September 7 to O
Published on 2 years, 3 months ago