This past June I had the good fortune to spend five days on a family kayaking trip in Pacific Rim National Park, off the west coast of Vancouver Island. It was amazing to spend time in this part of the world, with its important indigenous history and stunning beauty. While we were there, we noticed sea stars along the rocks at low tide.
This was thrilling to see, because about a decade ago, a wasting disease devastated the sea star population along the west coast of North America. It was precipitated by a number of factors but warming ocean waters from climate change is one of the factors that made it so deadly.
So it was lovely to see sea stars recovering (you might recognize their former name, starfish). The crisis isn’t over, wasting disease continues to impact the population, but there are some signs of hope.
To get to Pacific Rim National Park, you must drive on the one highway that goes through the community of Port Alberni to Ucluelet. While we were kayaking, a wildfire started on the eastern side of Port Alberni that shut down the highway all the way from Port Alberni to Ucluelet and Tofino.
The wildfire mildly inconvenienced us at the end of our trip, as we had to stay an extra night in the area before taking a detour on gravel logging roads home. But for locals, the impact of the highway closure was huge.
Not only that, as a result of the highway being closed for a few days, we noticed that the grocery store shelves in Port Alberni were half empty. This sort of supply chain disruption is not something most of us in North America are used to. Yet it is happening more – remember the pandemic shortages of toilet paper and yeast? It is going to be more and more common as natural disasters disrupt roads and agriculture, etc.
As we now know, June was the start of a record summer of wildfires burning across Canada.
Those of us who’ve been watching the climate disaster unfold, know that the new records are going to be set and broken over and over again until we get a handle on decreasing the carbon pollution that’s causing this destabilization and the weather. The drought, the floods and the conditions that lead up to both wildfires, floods, sea star wasting disease, and so on.
The Climate Emergency is starting impacting all of us.
In the past, it might have felt a bit remote for a some of us, especially here in North America. It may have felt in the past like it was impacting people who, if you’re in North America or in Europe, felt a little bit distant. Now it is coming home to roost. Because, of course, those of us in the industrialized world have been putting out the pollution for centuries that’s now impacting not only developing nations but it is also starting to hit us close to home.
Is it possible to still experience joy and resilience in a time of climate emergency? Yes, I believe it is. But we can’t be surprised when things don’t unfold the way that we’re accustomed to. They are not going to anymore with the changing climate.
So what does that mean for us?
Each of us should aim to get more resilient. For example, growing a garden and just in general having more food in your own pantry, if that’s possible. And being connected to your neighbours so that you can support each other. This is an ongoing conversation we’ll be having in this space.
I wanted to share my recent personal experience of being inconvenienced by climate disruption. I know I’m fortunate in this case, because climate change impacts are having a devastating effect on many people around the globe. But this personal example reminds me that the Climate Emergency is going to get more and more inconvenient and devastating for all of us.
I appreciated the advice that Dr Thomas Homer Dixon, author of several books, including “The Upside of Down”, shared during a recent public lecture. Homer Dixon studies how disruption impacts human society historically, and currently through the lens of what he calls the “poly crises”. That’s the term he uses to refer to the many converging crises that are happening now; not only climate change, but the economic crises, the recent pandemic, as well as political and social upheavals going on all around the world.
His latest book is called “Commanding Hope: The power we have to renew a world in peril”. I highly recommend it.
During Homer Dixon’s talk, an audience member asked, “How do we go forward, how do we maintain hope in this time of Climate Emergency and so many other things going on?”
In response, Professor Homer-Dixon shared the acronym TMIG. In this time when there’s so much going on and it can feel really overwhelming to look at the big picture, he encourages mindfulness, which isn’t new to most of us. But mindfulness in a very specific way; taking time when you’re having a good moment; when you’re connecting with family in a way that feels good, if you’re out in nature and that moment feels good, if you’re playing with your pet. Whatever it is, that gives you a moment of joy to notice it and to think to yourself, “this moment is good (TMIG)”
In our recent kayaking trip that we had many such moments TMIG moments, including seeing the sea stars sparkling orange and purple and black on the rocks as we paddled past. And I wish many such moments for you.
I would love it if you would share your #TMIG moments with me. You can email me at christine@climateofjoy.com or find me on Instagram @cpennerpolle. Click below to listen to the original Climate of Joy podcast or download it wherever you find your favourite podcasts!
Claiming Joy & Healing Amidst the Climate Emergency 