Such a well written piece - I so agree with what you say. I absolutely cannot understand why people are so complacent about what we are doing to the environment, and about what the future holds. It is truly terrifying.
Yesterday they cut a very big tree in the yard next to my building, it was a perennial and provided a lot of shade during Summer. I won't deny that I cried a little, staring from my kitchen window. I went back and forth messaging photos of it with my mom as if we were mourning a close relative. In a way it was. I loved that tree, it was always there while the others around would loose their leaves in the colder months.
Speaking of cold, everybody is complaining here because IT'S COLD. But it's not, really. I still remember when my village reached -10° one Winter, was snowbound another, frosty pipes were a thing, as well as towels against the windows to keep it warm, helping my father piling up woodsticks for the stove, the public bus that had to stop and add chains to their tires in order to reach my village and my stomach grumbling because we were super late for lunch getting home from school. I once spoke with a Finnish guy online about all this and he was shocked that this used to be a reality in Italy, that Winter tires have always been mandatory by law from mid October to mid April here in the north, because in his mind Italy = sicilian weather. Isn't it funny how misinformed we are about our own continent?
It feels all like a joke, doesn't it? Like driving for work in a 16° morning in March and seeing the digital display of the motorway saying "Winter tires or chains mandatory" only because it's not yet April 15th.
We live in the mountains of northern Romania. By this time of the year, we usually have snow, or have had a few mornings of deep frost at the very least. This winter has been nothing but mud and endless fog, just yesterday we had a couple of flies in the house. Next week they forecast temperatures of 13°C/55°F - it's not feeling much like Christmas. For several years now wooden sleighs hang on sides of barns, relics of the past, even though there are horses to pull them, there is never enough snow to use them anymore. I am sure the horses remember, even if we don't.
During summer, there wasn't enough sun for the garden to produce well, not a single apple on thousands of orchard trees. In spring, we had a small landslide back by the creek after nearly 30 days of May rains. When will we finally start to pay attention? Not just look to the online forecast for the temperature, but to actually get outside and watch the clouds, and the sun? When will we notice the loss of insects in our own backyards? When will the birdsong stop waking us up in the morning.
These certainly are strange times. I miss the cold. The true cold.
Thank you for taking the time to write and share this. Hooray! At least it’s not just me. I have no idea how you get people to see the reality when politicians have their heads in the sand.
the real arithmetic that matters is...too. damn. many. people. (by far!) none of these problems would exist or be so unmanageable but for there being an exceedingly oppressive number of humans. we arent doing the concrete for animals or fun; we do it for the ever increasing numbers of people. same on smog, emissions, garbage piles, etc. it is ALL a factor of too damned many of us. david attenborough -> https://youtube.com/watch?v=XZnlrxm1vAY
It seems that more people are cognitively “aware” of our predicament, but the layers of denial and delusion are weird. It seems like the awareness starts and stops at devices, at content. It remains abstract. Even the projects supporting life, for repair, it’s like “those other people who are amazing and doing stuff way over there”, when it matters just as much if a body is in a backyard, learning the land and life there, and putting skills into practice. There are the homesteading and prepping movements, channels, platforms, and that gets a lot of engagement, because the focus is on real loss and threats of loss to health, lifestyle (food and water) so that’s a big motivator, but that stuff tends to continue the mindset and ideas that got us here. The permaculture and rewilding stuff can get closer to being a response- not a solution- to physically digesting and embodying the reality of our predicament, and can help with the anxiety, but it still doesn’t touch a few vital things inside us, and so remains another “cool stuff other people are doing” thing, or dismissed as “privileged” or inconvenient or impractical (or just bring on the reactions of “it’s just plain evil, anti-human, against god, the insane reactions you noted here)
I don’t want to try to be another reporter- I wouldn’t win the algorithm battle anyway. So I’m into the doing, and what I’ve seen from the doing is that inner world (worldview, emotions, beliefs, identity) plus physical ability and willingness is everything. If real work to support life, getting hands dirty in healing the soil for example (which is needed literally everywhere and is open for everyone to do) is all about a to-do list, very few are gonna do it. If it’s all about a belief that it’s the good or right thing to do, few are gonna do it. If there is passionate devotion, that makes up a lot for lack of physical ability (although of course it’s on a very individual basis) but even moreso it seems when a person can let go of goals and expectations, the pressure to save and be a martyr, and instead actually experience life as a member of the family of life, not as a belief but as reality, things flow better. Practicality plus soul satiety, I guess. Which is how earth and kin-centered cultures have always been and lived, although never perfectly. The marriage of practical work with soul/spirit is inherent in their worldview and way of life. It’s nothing new at all.
But if minds and bodies are as depleted as they seem to be, there also needs to be a restoring of health and function. I’ve seen myself what’s required to actually get my ass out there and doing. Anyway I work with planting native and naturalized species, and then I craft with them and saturate myself in medicines, along with other practices. The critters show up as a result and then I get to know them better, I feel more alive and a part of life, and the cycle of reciprocity deepens. Then my anxiety and rage are less and less, and I keep going bc I feel better and fulfilled/satisfied. *This is the part where I’m supposed to trash myself publicly, talk about how much of a loser I am, and how I overcame horrible stuff like suicide etc, how I’m still in monetary poverty but make it work bc I’m special, blah blah and if I can do it, so can others. It doesn’t ever work, just serves to deplete me further and no one really cares anyway.
The spark happens, it needs to be tended, talking about how to restore function to minds and bodies through supporting fertility outside of us, how to actually get there…might help. but ultimately this really does seem to be a bottleneck situation. accepting and daily working with uncertainty and death seems foundational. a practice of letting go to be guided by those wiser than us, and one step at a time (being present, not mentally in the future)
Collapse of earth systems started with people and I don’t think it will get better or end with people “awakening”, usually large chunks of people just double down on what causes overshoot, historically anyway. Maybe just exploring how to get bodies moving in healthy relationships with life and meeting people out on the land is all we can do. We take care of what and who we passionately and actively love, period. It’s not as much of a chore when it’s love, and even when it’s a drag, most of us keep going with the caring and tending.
Its really odd weather. I was driving today here in Jersey CI on one side of the road the bank was full of daffodils and the otherside all the house's had christmas lights in their gardens
Agreed, it's strange how people seem to not care about the environment and what we do about it. There just doesn't seem to be that long term thinking. Or people don't seem to get it. It worries me...
Thank you for putting into words the despair so many of us feel (and are struggling to put into meaningful actions, when it feels like no-one in power gives a damn…).
Thank you for taking so much time to write this. There are still leaves on our neighbours oak tree, a rose is still flowering for the first time in December
Such a well written piece - I so agree with what you say. I absolutely cannot understand why people are so complacent about what we are doing to the environment, and about what the future holds. It is truly terrifying.
Yesterday they cut a very big tree in the yard next to my building, it was a perennial and provided a lot of shade during Summer. I won't deny that I cried a little, staring from my kitchen window. I went back and forth messaging photos of it with my mom as if we were mourning a close relative. In a way it was. I loved that tree, it was always there while the others around would loose their leaves in the colder months.
Speaking of cold, everybody is complaining here because IT'S COLD. But it's not, really. I still remember when my village reached -10° one Winter, was snowbound another, frosty pipes were a thing, as well as towels against the windows to keep it warm, helping my father piling up woodsticks for the stove, the public bus that had to stop and add chains to their tires in order to reach my village and my stomach grumbling because we were super late for lunch getting home from school. I once spoke with a Finnish guy online about all this and he was shocked that this used to be a reality in Italy, that Winter tires have always been mandatory by law from mid October to mid April here in the north, because in his mind Italy = sicilian weather. Isn't it funny how misinformed we are about our own continent?
It feels all like a joke, doesn't it? Like driving for work in a 16° morning in March and seeing the digital display of the motorway saying "Winter tires or chains mandatory" only because it's not yet April 15th.
It was very, very unnerving to not get snow in Colorado until November 18th. And it's already gone :(
We live in the mountains of northern Romania. By this time of the year, we usually have snow, or have had a few mornings of deep frost at the very least. This winter has been nothing but mud and endless fog, just yesterday we had a couple of flies in the house. Next week they forecast temperatures of 13°C/55°F - it's not feeling much like Christmas. For several years now wooden sleighs hang on sides of barns, relics of the past, even though there are horses to pull them, there is never enough snow to use them anymore. I am sure the horses remember, even if we don't.
During summer, there wasn't enough sun for the garden to produce well, not a single apple on thousands of orchard trees. In spring, we had a small landslide back by the creek after nearly 30 days of May rains. When will we finally start to pay attention? Not just look to the online forecast for the temperature, but to actually get outside and watch the clouds, and the sun? When will we notice the loss of insects in our own backyards? When will the birdsong stop waking us up in the morning.
These certainly are strange times. I miss the cold. The true cold.
Thank you for taking the time to write and share this. Hooray! At least it’s not just me. I have no idea how you get people to see the reality when politicians have their heads in the sand.
the real arithmetic that matters is...too. damn. many. people. (by far!) none of these problems would exist or be so unmanageable but for there being an exceedingly oppressive number of humans. we arent doing the concrete for animals or fun; we do it for the ever increasing numbers of people. same on smog, emissions, garbage piles, etc. it is ALL a factor of too damned many of us. david attenborough -> https://youtube.com/watch?v=XZnlrxm1vAY
It seems that more people are cognitively “aware” of our predicament, but the layers of denial and delusion are weird. It seems like the awareness starts and stops at devices, at content. It remains abstract. Even the projects supporting life, for repair, it’s like “those other people who are amazing and doing stuff way over there”, when it matters just as much if a body is in a backyard, learning the land and life there, and putting skills into practice. There are the homesteading and prepping movements, channels, platforms, and that gets a lot of engagement, because the focus is on real loss and threats of loss to health, lifestyle (food and water) so that’s a big motivator, but that stuff tends to continue the mindset and ideas that got us here. The permaculture and rewilding stuff can get closer to being a response- not a solution- to physically digesting and embodying the reality of our predicament, and can help with the anxiety, but it still doesn’t touch a few vital things inside us, and so remains another “cool stuff other people are doing” thing, or dismissed as “privileged” or inconvenient or impractical (or just bring on the reactions of “it’s just plain evil, anti-human, against god, the insane reactions you noted here)
I don’t want to try to be another reporter- I wouldn’t win the algorithm battle anyway. So I’m into the doing, and what I’ve seen from the doing is that inner world (worldview, emotions, beliefs, identity) plus physical ability and willingness is everything. If real work to support life, getting hands dirty in healing the soil for example (which is needed literally everywhere and is open for everyone to do) is all about a to-do list, very few are gonna do it. If it’s all about a belief that it’s the good or right thing to do, few are gonna do it. If there is passionate devotion, that makes up a lot for lack of physical ability (although of course it’s on a very individual basis) but even moreso it seems when a person can let go of goals and expectations, the pressure to save and be a martyr, and instead actually experience life as a member of the family of life, not as a belief but as reality, things flow better. Practicality plus soul satiety, I guess. Which is how earth and kin-centered cultures have always been and lived, although never perfectly. The marriage of practical work with soul/spirit is inherent in their worldview and way of life. It’s nothing new at all.
But if minds and bodies are as depleted as they seem to be, there also needs to be a restoring of health and function. I’ve seen myself what’s required to actually get my ass out there and doing. Anyway I work with planting native and naturalized species, and then I craft with them and saturate myself in medicines, along with other practices. The critters show up as a result and then I get to know them better, I feel more alive and a part of life, and the cycle of reciprocity deepens. Then my anxiety and rage are less and less, and I keep going bc I feel better and fulfilled/satisfied. *This is the part where I’m supposed to trash myself publicly, talk about how much of a loser I am, and how I overcame horrible stuff like suicide etc, how I’m still in monetary poverty but make it work bc I’m special, blah blah and if I can do it, so can others. It doesn’t ever work, just serves to deplete me further and no one really cares anyway.
The spark happens, it needs to be tended, talking about how to restore function to minds and bodies through supporting fertility outside of us, how to actually get there…might help. but ultimately this really does seem to be a bottleneck situation. accepting and daily working with uncertainty and death seems foundational. a practice of letting go to be guided by those wiser than us, and one step at a time (being present, not mentally in the future)
Collapse of earth systems started with people and I don’t think it will get better or end with people “awakening”, usually large chunks of people just double down on what causes overshoot, historically anyway. Maybe just exploring how to get bodies moving in healthy relationships with life and meeting people out on the land is all we can do. We take care of what and who we passionately and actively love, period. It’s not as much of a chore when it’s love, and even when it’s a drag, most of us keep going with the caring and tending.
Glad I found this post, thanks Thomas.
Its really odd weather. I was driving today here in Jersey CI on one side of the road the bank was full of daffodils and the otherside all the house's had christmas lights in their gardens
Plant native plants
The change is so true, and you can already see it with snowy winters getting shorter...💙 So sad.
Agreed, it's strange how people seem to not care about the environment and what we do about it. There just doesn't seem to be that long term thinking. Or people don't seem to get it. It worries me...
Thank you for putting into words the despair so many of us feel (and are struggling to put into meaningful actions, when it feels like no-one in power gives a damn…).
Yes, i agree, it's ridiculously mild and we really need to get people to understand how important it is to conserve nature for it's own sake.
Thank you for taking so much time to write this. There are still leaves on our neighbours oak tree, a rose is still flowering for the first time in December
I feel similarly quite often - and for a year or so I stopped reading anything related to climate or biodiversity loss, as it was way too much.
However, as bad as things may be, we are making (some) progress. Not enough, yet, and collective action seems to be failing.
But smaller, good things can be a source of hope.
Colombia, The Netherlands and a few others will make their own coalition - separate from COP, in order to ditch fossil fuels.
A lot of rewilding projects across the world are seeing great results - check Mossy Earth, Planet Wild for this sort of things. Protected areas are growing in size, rewilding is happening at scale in some places. Species are being reintroduced (https://www.carpathia.org/vultures-return-to-the-fagaras-mountains-foundation-conservation-carpathia-ing-and-local-communities-in-arges-prepare-for-the-reintroduction-of-the-griffon-vulture-in-romania/). Although some still need help.
Hope you don't mind me sharing, but here are two large scale projects in the UK: https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/appeals/rothbury-estate-nature-and-nation and https://www.highlandsrewilding.co.uk/.
Oh, I loved this post. My feelings and thoughts exactly. Thank you, Thomas.