Is it OK to be happy and sad? My child whispers the question as we wait for the door to click, signaling the start of the school day.
We've been spending a lot of time with emotions. Describing them, naming them, talking about how sometimes we don't know which ones we're feeling, how we can feel multiple things simultaneously. Fear and Surprise. Joy and Sadness.
I want my child to be skilled at emotions. They're not something you simply master, not like writing your name (something else we're working on). They don't win arguments the same way facts do, yet they are something we're going to need to understand just as much as science to live on a planet that is growing increasingly hotter.
So often, news about climate change is about numbers and data, but figures don't convey the psychological impacts of our warming home, and they don't necessarily inspire action. Emotions can. Scientists have been trying to figure out what emotions drive the most change for years. A 2023 study, for instance, found somewhat unsurprisingly that anger is most likely to inspire protests, while sadness, fear, guilt, and hope were likely to encourage behavior change. But don't most of us feel multiple things at the same time?
We finally had an actual snow day this week. As much as I loved watching my child and the dog play in it, I was also sad and anxious. I couldn't help but wonder how many snow days she'll have as a kid and eventually as an adult. On Valentine's Day, I was full of gratitude for the incredible community we live in, for the teachers, staff, and parents who made the day special for my child while also horrified by a culture that wraps up consumerism and presents it to our children as tradition.
I want my child to be able to identify her emotions. To understand that no emotion is good or bad. To know how to use her feelings. Psychologists use emotion wheels as a visual tool to help people better understand their emotions. Kids, for instance, tend to be emotionally aware but often don't have the vocabulary to express their feelings. Something I think many of us can relate to when thinking about the changes we're seeing in our world.
The Climate Mental Health Network used the research of Panu Pihkala, who has studied climate emotions at the University of Helsinki, to create a Climate Emotions Wheel. It's not meant to be definitive or to scale, but I think it can help us think about and talk about climate emotions. On their website and below you'll find a blank Climate Emotions Wheel. Climate Mental Health Network suggests printing it out, filling it in, looking at the complete one, and then talking about it afterward. It’s something you can do multiple times as chances are yours will change.
Yes, I told my child as she waited anxiously to go in and hand out her Valentine cards; you can be happy and sad or hopeful and horrified, and so can the rest of us.
~ Bridget
Working: On a piece about elks for Modern Farmer and forest bathing for John Hopkins.
Published: A story on what milk companies mean by climate neutral for Modern Farmer, and a guide to storing homemade bread for Martha Stewart.