midenka1’s Recent Comments

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  the environment and anxiety

  As a person growing up in the '80s and going to antinuclear marches and forcing myself to watch videos of Hiroshima after the bomb was dropped, I do believe that anxiety about the fate of the earth can be real and significant.  As a teenager it shook the hell out of my personal metaphysics.

  My kids are pretty aware, in their kidlike ways, of what issues face us.  I am proud of them for that.  Right now for them its about not stepping on ants and never using a/c at home or in the car (we live in Portland so that's not so hard) and recycling.  My 9 year old is excited to help build a bioswale at her school. Great.

  When I sense their awareness branching into fear, or anger at our species, I try to remind them of three things.  1. As my son loves to say, "We don't know the future." 2. Things do heal (they've seen that happen plenty of times.) 3. As humans we have the capacity to think and make change; we can each take steps to heal things.

  These three ideas may not carry them into their teen years, when their ability with abstract reasoning will introduce them to new levels of conceptual tragedy.  I hope however, that some of this simple orientation will stay with them.  

  Maybe we all need to freak out at some point about all this. But the despair that can weigh us down when we look  at what we've done to the earth can also inhibit our ability to heal things around us.  I think we need a dose of hope in order to have the strength to take any steps at all. We also need humility -
  we really don't know the future, and can't know whether any of our good actions will be enough or will be quick enough.  All we can do is take what action our lives will allow.

  We need to teach our kids how to look squarely at a whole lot of different sorts of difficult realities without it driving them mad.On Children, anxiety, and global warming posted 2 years, 2 months ago 14 Responses