Stories

Eco-anxiety is a complex topic, and researchers help us understand climate emotions in a deeper way by creating models that explain different connection points. Panu Pihkala is an eco-anxiety researcher from Finland who has written extensively on eco-anxiety and...

Communicating our climate stories We're excited to share this collaboration with Doctors Without Border, a podcast devoted to stories about the overlaps between humanitarian work and climate impacts. How do we manage our fears, anxiety, and grief in the face of these...

Embrace your inner child this season It’s a time of year when many of us are connecting with family of all ages, and hopefully connecting with our inner child, too, as we enjoy the season.  As you spend time with (or are thinking about) the kids in your life this...

When conflict and climate overlap We're excited to share this collaboration with Doctors Without Border, a podcast devoted to stories about the overlaps between humanitarian work and climate impacts. How do we manage our fears, anxiety, and grief in the face of these...

A visual journey through grief and love: From Lisa: This digital journal is a collection of some of my writings and media while onboard Tallship Antigua as an artist-in-residence with The Arctic Circle Residency. As we sailed through wilderness areas in the Norwegian...

Everyone is sad. You're not special. How can we navigate the paradox that eco-anxiety makes us feel so alone, and yet these feelings are widely experienced?  I remember seeing Gabby's words when she made this post a while back, and Meghan's video makes them hit even...

Nurturing ourselves, nurturing each other, nurturing change in our world. What a treat to sit down with my old friend Kayla, who I've known since high school, to talk about our climate feelings. As someone who uses her platform to highlight social issues, I wanted to...

Seeing through the eyes of love: This piece was originally published over on Matt's blog last fall, and he's graciously sharing it with us now.  It's about his relationship to his daughter, our relationship to the land, and our relationship to this moment in time....

Putting our bodies on the line: This one is close to home, folks. I'm so proud to share this reflection with you, written by my big sister Beth Carlson-Malena, who got arrested yesterday during a climate action. Storytelling is a powerful way to help people recognize...

Parenting in a climate crisis: Here are Eco-Anxious Stories, we are often repeating the phrase "You're not alone". To us, this is the ultimate source of comfort, courage, and compassio. It tells us that we are connected in our ability to sustain ourselves and our...

Focusing on feelings: I first met Beth when she gave me a call to talk about her upcoming thesis project on eco-anxiety. We chatted about great authors, new theories, and our personal experiences of climate feelings. A little while later, Beth followed up with the...

Healthy systems: Laalitha is focused on making an impact, and as you'll see in the interview below, she thinks about change in terms of the systems that contribute to our health. She also sheds light on the complexity of being just one small person working to...

Leading with love: Sharmarke Dubow's story is unlike many politicians' in Canada, and his experiences have shaped his perspective on justice, community, and what it means to be a leader. After a summer filled with calls for justice for Black lives, it's a privilege to...

Meaning in the midst: We're so excited to share this piece with you, and introduce you to an artist that is generously willing to share her story and her talents with us. Halena Lou is an organizer, communicator, project manager, and policy analyst, plus she is an...

A beautiful microcosm Julia's photos always strike a chord. The way she sees and learns from the physical spaces and ecosystems around her, the way she feels her complex climate emotions with transparency and grace - let it stir your own joy and gratitude and grief...

Giving up the hero narrative: This five minute episode features Beth Sawin, a biologist and systems-thinker who crafts the best Twitter threads. Beth is the Founder and Director of the Multisolving Institute, that helps people work together across sectors to address...

Leveraging your privilege: This five minute episode features Eric Holthaus, a writer, reporter, and father of two kids who is passionate about reshaping climate stories. In this short video, Eric tells us about how the climate conversation has shifted over the past...

Overlapping anxieties We're pleased to introduce our guest blogger this month, Dr. Sally Gillespie. Sally lectures and facilitates workshops on climate psychology and ecopsychology, and she's the author of a recent book on climate psychology. Here she gives us a...

3-Part Zine Series: We released a video based on this zine series when we launched the Eco-Anxious Stories site in February, and ever since, I've been so excited to share these images. Late last year, I asked creator Meghan Mast about each page of this three-part...

Worth a thousand words: These images and words come to us from Julia Curran, an urban/bio geographer, systems-thinker, graphic designer, revolution-fomenter, and world-lover who is all-in for climate. Julia says "I'm doing my best to model what life can be like in our...

Where love and worry overlap Kevin had never experienced anxiety of any form before having kids. In this story he recalls a journey from the depths of his eco-anxiety to hyper-awareness and eventually to Eco-Anxious Stories. -RMCTwo births: A child and anxiety My...

Rachel's story Rachel founded Eco-Anxious Stories in 2019 alongside her brother-in-law, Kevin. Here's a bit of background on her own story. How did I get here? Do you remember when you first learned about climate change? I do. I was in 5th grade at Ecole College Park...

Can you relate? Kristine submitted this story after overcoming extreme anxiety at a birthday party. This experience left her wanting to model change and is a great example for all the parents out there struggling with their own party plans.   We raced around the...