In 2019 a friend invited me to a local meeting of Extinction Rebellion, a group that formed in response to the accelerating climate crisis, and the way it was being ignored by those in charge. We watched a film with some terrifying facts, and during the discussion afterwards I watched someone sob and accessed my own climate grief for the first time.
This experience of both my grief and my love for the planet opened me up to taking some kind of action. Over the coming years I took part in non-violent civil disobedience which included five arrests. I also committed to two year-long vigils for the Earth in my local town, sitting in meditation with a placard around my neck for an hour a day in all weathers.
These actions were small but they helped me to feel like I was doing something in response to the polycrisis I was living through. I was happy to become ‘that strange woman that meditated in public’ and understand that some feel it’s a waste of time. Regardless of the outcome of my actions, I find it meaningful to express my climate grief in this way, and to recognise the suffering of our dear Earth.
In this new project I wanted to continue to honour the Earth and also to speak to the many different ways in which people suffering, I also wanted to make an offering to those who walked past with my ‘Hope in Dark Times’ booklet. There aren’t many explicit mentions in the booklet of our planet or of activism, but I hope that empathy and kindness towards ourselves naturally leads us towards kindness towards others and towards the Earth. We’re all so connected.
I’m not sitting at set times but if you’d be interested in joining me in Malvern sometime do get in touch and maybe we can work something out.
If you would like to use my booklet or do something similar in your own local town I would be delighted – do get in touch:
