Earth Emotions

Earth Emotions are the human positive and negative emotions that are in relationship to planetary health. The state of the Earth is reflected in the state of our minds and emotions. As we try to figure out how to deal with the existential crises we are facing, we need a radical shift in our collective ways - returning to our roots in Earth’s matrix of life — a reframing of our culture around the values of eco-mutuality.

Everyone engaging with our climate emergency will have their own emotional journey. People who engage with the climate crisis need to recognise that they are susceptible to a special kind of stress due to the overwhelming nature of the problem. It will not be easy. If you have come to recognise that climate change will lead to a near-term collapse in our way of life, or even worse, then this can be a very difficult to process, integrate, or communicate to other people.

It is important that we engage and talk with others who understand and appreciate that we are not simply confused, depressed, or irresponsible. In those connections and conversations, we find solidarity and pathways for how to be, what to do now and in the future. This is a fundamental part of Regenerative Culture.

New words have been formed to describe emotional responses to the emergent state of the world.
These words are needed to create a vocabulary that includes hope for the building of resilience and understanding each other better in dialogues with multiple perspectives.

Here are some of these Emotion Descriptions:

Nature deficit disorder

is the idea that human beings, especially children, are spending less time outdoors, and the belief that this change results in a wide range of behavioral problems. This disorder is not recognised

in any of the medical manuals for mental disorders, such as the ICD-10 or the DSM-5.

Solastalgia

is pain or sickness caused by the inability to derive solace from the present state of one’s
home environment. It is the lived experience of negatively perceived environmental change to one’s sense of place and existential well-being. Feelings of powerlessness and a loss of hope about the future. Solastalgia is a form of homesickness one experiences, when one is still at ‘home.’

Ecological grief

is grief felt in relation to experienced or anticipated ecological losses, including the loss of species, ecosystems, and meaningful landscapes due to acute or chronic environmental change.

Eco-anxiety

is anxiety about ecological disasters and threats to the natural environment such as pollution and climate change. Variations to the definition exist, to broadly describe the “worry or agitation caused by concerns about the present and future state of the environment”.

You can find more of these in the regen 101 booklet