Do you feel traumatized due to climate change? Many do.
Some Americans already are or will soon experience anxiety about global warming and its effects on us, our loved ones, our ecosystems and our lifestyles. This anxiety will increase as reports of the gravity of our condition become more bleak and stark.
You may also be suffering from mounting feelings of shame and blame coming from the newest political and environmental rhetoric and movement "Time is up!" They are shaming the meat eaters and oil consumers, (the average person) touting it's "their fault" that the planet is warming.
Little pressure is put on the environmental raping scientists like David Keith, supported and funded by billionaires such as Bill Gates. There is little to no education about HAARP or geo-engineering. No one is being educated about "solar radiation management." Just look up into the sky on any given day to witness the environmental madness.
The ionic skies are more likely impacting the planet's temperature, than you... driving to the grocery store in an attempt to get clean organic food for your family or packing your child to school with hopes and prayers they don't get shot in a mass killing. Talk about stress and anxiety!
If you are "awake" the eco grief you are experiencing might also be from the anxiety over Fukushima's radiation filling the entire Pacific Ocean. Pick a catastrophe. Pick a topic. There is a ton of stress to feel over any given disaster.
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Kriss Kevorkian, a specialist in death, dying and bereavement, suggests people need to acknowledge their “environmental grief,” a term she coined after studying the decline of killer whale populations.
I'm talking about the deep grief one can feel over loss of animal life. Eco grief? What else can we call the heart wrenching feeling of witnessing dozens of whales beaching themselves, bee populations dying off, even the death of a gorilla at a zoo? There's animals going extinct every week. Monarch butterflies are on the brink.
There is also the grief and reaction stemming from the environmental loss of ecosystems by natural and man-made events. Ken Doka, has produced work on “disenfranchised grief,” which is grief often unacknowledged or invalidated due to human catastrophes such as the oil spill in Alaska.
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The term “environmental grief” may be new to you. It was for me. But it fits!
The deep psychology of ecology of the 1970s, drew from indigenous traditions to promote living in connection with nature. We need to get back to that mindset.
We're way out in left field with shaming and blaming the individual. I'm not saying we should not attempt to do our part....such as lessening our car emissions, planting our own garden, pulling back on our meat consumption or ceasing to flush the toilet as many times in a day. All these things will help.
We need innovation that is in alignment with the Earth and the natural world. We need new technologies and people who can help dream a new dream into reality! We cannot pass trauma and "eco-grief" onto our children.
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Kevorkian says that the death of whales began causing her to experience grief as profound as it would be for members of her own family. She was hesitant to share this with others at first—until she found like-minded grievers.
A 2012 National Wildlife Federation (NWF) report on the psychological effects of climate change estimates that 200 million Americans will be exposed to serious psychological distress from climate-related events and incidents.
“We need to galvanize our grief into action, to stop the ecocide from taking place. We’re destroying our natural world.” Kriss Kevorkian says.
"Galvanize our grief into action." - I love that!
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We have a President cutting back EPA restrictions for dumping chemicals into water ways and writing executive orders for large corporations, who have already been fined millions of dollars for not complying with environmental standards, to go about doing business as usual. It is horrifying! I grieve about this daily.
My feeling? We need to shut down HAARP and educate the public on tropospheric aerosol spraying and the many other horrifying areas of concern.
To me, we need unity and education that draws on inspiration to propel us forward with an inner motivation. We don't need to be shamed. We need to be empowered!
How do you deal with your grief? Find someone to talk with about it. Don't dismiss it or deny it... and don't by pass it! Admit it. Be honest and allow yourself to fully feel it.