Thursday, September 01, 2016

Climate Craziness of the Week: “Climate Anxiety Counseling” enters the lexicon with a ‘practitioner’

CLIMATE ANXIETY COUNSELING
I’m scared for the effects of climate change on the world I love. Rather than try to think about, save, or mourn for the whole world, I decided to think about my city and state, and the living creatures — including other humans — who share it with me.

The first round of Climate Anxiety Counseling ran in Kennedy Plaza (outside Burnside Park), Tuesday-Friday 3-6 pm, Saturday 3-5 pm, May 13th-June 7th, 2014. Opposite the bus terminal, and just outside Burnside Park, I sat with a Lucy-from-Peanuts style booth (thank you, Charles Schulz):
When people stopped to talk with me, I asked them what they were most worried about — whether it was related to climate change or to something else — and if I could write down what they said. With permission, I’ve shared on this site some of what people said to me.

If you come to the booth, you can share your anxiety–climate or otherwise–with me, and respond to someone else’s anxiety in the form of an Alternate History, to help imagine a different set of futures (more about how and why here). You can also take away a little drawing of a living creature that shares the state with you. I’ve since set up the booth at AS220’s Foo Fest, the Washington County Fair, the Sankofa World Market, and the Providence International Art Festival.

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