Eco-anxiety describes the deep worry we can feel when we see very distressing things happening in the world. In particular, when so called natural disasters are wreaking havoc it is a level of anxiety that seems to have no end. Eco-anxiety gives a name to this distress and the powerlessness that often comes with it. It is caused by witnessing catastrophic events such as floods, fires, landslides, cyclones and droughts. In Australia is it not unusual to have severe floods in one part of the country and out of control wild fires in another part at the same time. You know it is something impacting you when watching or listening to a disaster unfolding and you feel the heightened unease, maybe panic and often deep dread, fear and distress. Sometimes we can’t get images out of our minds of suffering animals or people crying when they have just lost everything. This is of course, understandable.

I would suggest that eco-anxiety is the proper response to what we see, hear and sometimes directly experience ourselves. However, we can become over-exposed to disasters and suffering such that our bodies become highly sensitised and we may be unable to calm our nervous system and function with some sense of personal control in our lives. Behind the eco-anxiety sits the risk of losing hope that the world will be OK, that nature will recover, that people will recover and that we can still be sure the world will be liveable for us all.

Doing what we can to hold hope for ourselves and sometimes for others, is something we can do on a day by day basis. It is not easy and it is not a skill that is taught. There are though, many ways to foster hope and pay it forward in acts of kindness. For example, keeping our focus on people who are making positive contributions in the world can really help us. Jane Goodall has inspired people all over the world and one of her key messages is that in the face of hopelessness, do something! She says the smallest acts of care and kindness matter. It means we are not giving up in our distress, that we still want to make a contribution in the world. That we know what we do matters.

The podcast shares my thoughts about how to transform deep worry about the world by practising hope each day, in little ways, and noting here that when called upon that we stand up to be counted more substantially.

I dedicate this podcast to the incredible people - volunteers, neighbours, government workers and everyday people who step up - who respond to natural disasters, often putting their own lives at risk, to help others. That we continue to care gives me hope for our world, for to not care means we lose more than we need to.

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