All the Feelings Under the Sun: How to Deal With Climate Change
change started why it’s creating problems and all the ways you can respond to its challenges You’ll be introduced to some of the many people who are devoting their time and energy to finding climate solutions that will contribute to a safer and healthier world for everyone You’ll see how solutions from different different fields like farming transportation clean energy production and the restoration and protection of land water and air can join together to create a new and healthier world Since we all contribute to the life force of the planet you’ll discover many things you do that can make a difference and you’ll find strength in learning about and making these choices You might be inspired by the creative ideas you’ll read about and the accomplishments of the many youth leaders in the climate movement A very important part of our journey into our own and our planet’s future is learning how to build our inner resiliency our emotional strength It’s a remarkable time to be alive because we’ll all be working working together to deal with the huge challenges to our planet As we learn more about the impacts of climate change at times it may be frightening or sad and make us nervous or angry or more You may experience all the feelings under the sun These feelings are totally natural and healthy You’ll be learning more about what you’re feeling and why and this book will give you some new tools to express your feelings so they don’t overwhelm you In fact strong feelings can be 2 Introduction
helpful They can give you the energy and focus you need to nourish your dreams and act in creative and productive ways This book is meant to be read slowly and you’ll find exercises in each chapter that explore how the feelings and ideas you read about fit into your own life Take your time Most of the activities use writing or drawing so if you want you can make a Making a Healthier World Together journal to use as you read this book You can use a blank book and decorate it or simply use sheets of paper Feelings and Climate Change Paying close attention to our feelings will give us useful information about our life experiences and even help us move toward climate change solutions For example anger can help you take a stand in the world to protect who you are and what you feel and believe But just like natural ecosystems we need a healthy balance Too much anger and you risk hurting hurting others but if you don’t acknowledge the natural anger that you feel in a situation you risk giving up your valuable point of view and your individuality Fear is a feeling that lets us know that change is happening It can help us take care of ourselves and avoid harm or injury Too much fear though can prevent prevent us from doing things that we might enjoy or need to do and too little fear could put us in dangerous situations Introduction 3
Feeling sadness can sometimes help us see that we need to let go of something Maybe there’s a situation that no longer works for us and it’s time to make room for something new Or we’ve lost something we love like our pet But feeling sad all the time might make it hard to concentrate in school or hang out with friends a Pause For Feelings Take five minutes and write in your journal or on a sheet of paper about some times you felt anger fear and sadness As you remember those feelings write about how they made sense with what was happening at the time Feelings are like the weather They come and go and they’re always changing There are days full of fun that feel like a bright sunny day and on other days our feelings feelings are dark and stormy We often only pay attention 4 Introduction
to the big feelings being mad scared excited or sad But there are subtle feelings too feeling calm a little nervous relieved bored or silly The more you pay attention to all your feelings name them and learn how to express them the more they’ll flow and change like the weather They’ll help you understand yourself and move confidently through your life Your internal Weather rePort In a journal or on a separate sheet of paper describe your feelings in this moment like you’re giving a weather report You can use some of the terms from the list below or come up with your own Sunny with a few clouds Chance of rain Hazy Stormy Chance of snow Blustery wind Clear skies Unpredictable weather Warm and breezy Describe your internal weather three times a day for one week to see if there’s a weather pattern You can use the following chart as a model or create your own design Introduction 5
