This week on the blog we have a post from Hilda from COPE Scotland about focusing on climate change concerns without feeling overwhelmed and hopeless. At the end of this post, you’ll find details about our rescheduled Climate Change Café, hosted by Hilda, who has been working in partnership with the Scottish Communities Climate Action Network (SCCAN). The event will focus on some of the ways that we can take action against climate change.
It’s been a turbulent time over the past few years and that’s on top of whatever was happening before the pandemic. The current cost of living crisis and the concern for our own or loved one’s health means at times we can feel mentally and emotionally overloaded. If we add concerns about climate change on top of all of that, it’s understandable, we may want to climb back into bed and pull the covers over our head!
This is a wee blog about not giving into despair; it does not replace professional advice. If you ever feel so despairing you think of suicide, please speak to someone. The postcard in this link was co-created with people who overcame thoughts of suicide and chose to keep themselves safe and to live. Click here to view the postcard, which is titled ‘Never Lose Hope’
How much control we feel we have over situations does impact our sense of wellbeing, and while we recognise there are many things which can seem beyond our control, there is often more that we can do than we realise. When faced with the constant onslaught of climate news, which often focuses on the idea of – it’s bad and going to get worse, we might be asking ourselves – is there anything I can do to make a difference?
The ideas in this video came from a co-design session with people in West Glasgow, who shared their ideas on things we can do to help make a difference, which was also the inspiration for the wee postcard shared above. Click here to watch the video.
Other resources that might be useful
Capacitar – a website whose vision focuses on healing ourselves and our world.
Managing challenging emotions fingerholds – I was fortunate to attend some learning sessions which prompted me designing this poster to share some ‘fingerhold exercises’ which can be really helpful when managing difficult emotions.
Sharing with others is also a way of helping navigate our way through challenging times, finding ways to focus on what we want to move towards and not draining our energy focusing on what we want to move away from.
Thanks for reading, and remember – you matter, and your actions matter, and sometimes we have more opportunities than we realise to build that kinder world we all dream of, even if that is through one small message of hope at a time.
The rescheduled Climate Change café will take place on the 21st April 9.30-11.30am. If you’re interested in signing up to the event, get in touch by emailing maddy@mindwavesnews.com, messaging us on Twitter @mindwaves1, or DMing us on Instagram via @mindwaves_scot
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