How To Hold The Enormity? (Video)
Inviting shared reflections on the ways the climate crisis lives in us.
Audio only:
Resonant World #38
Given the extreme climate events we’re witnessing — or experiencing first-hand — I felt called to share some personal reflections on how the crisis lives in me, in the hope this may open a space for others to take a similar pause.
Living in south-west London, insulated from the kind of impacts that have been devastating many parts of the world for years now, I’m conscious that my relationship to the crisis is very different than for those whose lives, homes and livelihoods are already on the line.
Nevertheless, the sheer breathtaking pace at which planetary systems are being destabilized is now reshaping the consciousness of everyone on this planet in some way — and I believe it’s important to explore this process in all its many facets.
A big part of collective trauma work is finding ways to safely come together to hold painful truths in a field of shared awareness. This video aims to offer a fractal of that process, and if you feel any resonance, then I’d invite you to explore the work of the Pocket Project nonprofit, which stages Global Social Witnessing calls to support shared exploration of our responses to the crises we’re facing.
There are now many more communities, initiatives and networks springing up to create spaces for this kind of inquiry — and I’d love to hear about any you’ve found supportive in the comments. Thank you for watching.
I write and record Resonant World in my spare time from my work as an editor at nonprofit climate news service DeSmog. Support from readers is a huge boost — and that includes forwarding, sharing, or commenting in response to my posts. Any variety of coffee most gratefully accepted! Thank you for your encouragement.
In September, Beth Tener ( of Kinship Hub) and myself are hosting a gathering in New England, on seeing and healing the collective trauma of persecuted colonists re-enactting their peoples wounds out on those deemed 'other' and 'less'. The 'founders' of New England are such a group. The safe enough container will be formed by including a diversity of participants, less than 50 per cent American, working in circle, drawing on multiple frameworks of understanding including indigenous and embodied collective trauma work, constellations to foster pattern recognition over generations, community building and artful expression. We will be meeting on Green Acres, a retreat centre which has fostered peace and healing for more than 100 years. Five tidal rivers meet there. Beth is American with Mayflower relatives. I am Northern Irish living in Canada. We both understand patterns of empire, colonisation, endentured servitude and current economic pressures.... the story before our story. Understanding the underlying patterns for the divisiveness in the US currently, reduces collective shame and fosters new visions of ways forward to deal with the shared problem of climate crises.
Thanks Matthew for the reminder that bringing space and time to that which needs it, is a simple yet powerful tool we each have. And thanks for sharing your personal experience right now, a generous resource