Question About Resilience Tactics

Sam Cuchens

83 Posts

I am curious how all of you in the CCL, volunteers as well as those in higher-up positions channel resilience. How do you come to terms with your own limitations of what you can and cannot do without falling into complacency? What activities do you all do in your off-time to help yourselves rest, in physical, emotional, and mental terms? And how do you go about dealing with moments of grief and anxiety related to climate work?

Forgive me if this was all asked before, I am just simply curious in the hopes that the answers will help soothe my nerves in the coming years.

Apr '24

3 Replies

Simon Stratton

37 Posts

@Sam Cuchens

Hello Sam!

I would love to show some of the ways I handle my climate resilience by first tackling your question about how I handle my limitations. Simply put, I like to be aware of what I can and cannot control. Although I am not perfect at it, I like to ask myself: “Can I easily influence the outcome?”. If the answer is yes, then I can work step by step to produce a goal related to that outcome. If the answer is no, or it's very hard to personally influence, I like to step back and think of what I can control about this “intangible” thing. Part of resilience for me is knowing how to take a breath and realize I am one person. Then I focus on what I can control by writing it out on paper. Even if the outcome that is desired does not happen, you are still able to control the things that you contribute, which is what matters most. I also think doing this avoids complacency because writing it out makes me focus on the things I can control optimistically, which further encourages me more.

A lot about resilience is about finding what works for you most. I love music and use it daily to help me stay relaxed and focused. I highly recommend allowing yourself space when doing climate work, and allotting times of the day or week when you step away from climate work. This method introduced by Tamara Staton, CCL's Resilience and Education Coordinator, has proven beneficial to me. This not only prevents you from burning out, but it also gives you the ability to step away from the stress of fighting climate change, so you are refreshed and encouraged when it comes time to go back to work. You can hear all about it in CCL's podcast that came out last month: Episode 92: There’s Something Funny about Climate Change

Handling grief and anxiety is most important to me when trying to build my climate resilience. What helped me the most was when I was told that it is a good thing that you have these feelings, not because the feelings themselves are good, but rather because it shows that you care, and are passionate about helping save the planet. AKA if everyone was worried, climate solutions would probably be reached faster. Another way I found ways of navigating feelings of eco-grief is by utilizing the Five Steps to Personal Climate Resilience - CCL Community (citizensclimate.org). This training is probably the most important training relating to resilience, try it out and let me know what you think!

I realize that was a ton of information, so let me know if you have any questions. There are also a ton of resilience resources on the Resilience Hub if you have not checked that out already.

Talk to you soon,

Simon Stratton

Apr '24

Sam Cuchens

83 Posts

@Simon Stratton Thank you, I have already done some training in regards to resilience and I plan to do even more of it as it has helped to shed some of my fears and concerns about my morality as a person. I have also joined the Resilience group and I look forward to whatever events they'll host. I wanted to make this post just to hear from others like you in the hopes that I, or others reading it, can learn something new about climate resilience. I love what you said about my limitations question, because while I agree with activists like Greta Thunberg that you being one person should not stop you from making change, I do agree that there are some limitations to what we can and cannot do as human beings and writing down and focusing on what you ARE going to do is pretty helpful and clears your mind of doubt.

I said before in my introduction to the community that I found this place thanks to Kathryn Kellog's zero-waste blog, and she has a great article about ways to deal with eco anxiety that I encourage all of you to read:

Again, as I've stated previously in my introduction, it's good to be here and I appreciate it.

Apr '24

Simon Stratton

37 Posts

@Sam Cuchens

That is amazing to hear, and I greatly appreciate the link to the article. It is cool we are on the same page about the limitations. I recently had a conversation with someone where we were discussing the complexity of civic duty and limitations, and it's funny the same topic just got brought up again. I think it is a very honorable thing to reduce personal emissions, even if there is someone else who is emitting more- it shows that you care and want to make a difference.

Apr '24

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Question About Resilience Tactics