#2 GOOD GRIEF NEWS
Thoughts on climate grief, artificial intimacy and three events for your agenda.
Over the past three weeks I have been travelling a lot - to northern Italy for a short holiday and to the south of France for work. In many conversations there has been a common theme, a sense of worry and unease about nature, the weather, the state and condition of our environment.
I think we all have experienced similar mixed feelings. Warm weather in winter, an unexpected cold wave in the middle of spring, unusual amounts of rain etc. I had a moment of unease as I hiked through the vineyards in South Tyrol and observed the very intensive cultivation there, where there is hardly any unspoilt nature in between. Or flying over the endless chessboard landscape of the Netherlands…
Worries about the state of nature and climate extremes are experienced more and more and our reaction to it often seems to be confusion – but in a lot of cases it is actually grief. Climate grief.
Climate Grief – What is it?
Many people use the term ‘climate grief’ to refer to a wider loss and anxiety related to the overall effects of climate change. Often the lines between climate change and other major ecological catastrophes become blurred. Climate grief becomes a description of a general ‘ecological grief’ or ‘eco anxiety’.
The range of things (and creatures) that people mourn for is wide: loss of human, animal and plant life, but also loss of identities, beliefs, and lifestyles.
Climate grief is related both to changes that have already happened and to changes that are coming, or are in the process of happening. Thus, climate grief often has elements of what the grief theorists call ‘anticipatory grief’ or ‘transitional grief’.
What can we do?
Grieving can be hard - but it's also a healthy reaction. Grief is the processing of feelings that you have when you lose something, and by moving through all the emotions involved, you can adapt to the new environment and hopefully become more resilient.
There are a number of initiatives, events and rituals that respond to climate grief, that don't remain silent and deal with the issue and the connected emotions:
The Silent Farewell of De Nieuwe Ooster's 130-Year-Old Tree
In Amsterdam, a 130-year-old red beech tree at De Nieuwe Ooster cemeteryfaced its final moments, succumbing to a stubborn fungus. The tree's death was deeply saddening, especially for the many visitors to the cemetery. They held a full funeral service and wrote heartfelt letters bidding farewell to this venerable symbol of resilience and life.
Mario Brunello's Melodic Protest in Cortina
In Cortina, Italy, cellist Mario Brunello took up his instrument to protest against the cutting down of 200 larch trees to make way for a bobsleigh track ahead of the 2026 Olympics. With touching melodies echoing through the forest, Brunello sought to amplify the voices of these ancient trees. His music is a stirring call to action to recognise the deep connection between music, nature and our collective wellbeing.
Funerals for Glaciers: Honoring the Fallen Titans
The loss of majestic yet vulnerable glaciers has triggered a wave of mourning worldwide. In Iceland, citizens gathered to bid farewell to Okjokull, a once mighty glacier that is now just a piece of ice. Similar rituals took place in Oregon and Switzerland, where communities came together to mourn the demise of cherished glacial landscapes. These funerals are not only a solemn recognition of ecological loss, but also a call for urgent climate action.
I have written about this topic before. You can click through the story highlight on Instagram here.
Events
“dazwischen / in between” exhibition at German Sepulkralmuseum
On Sunday 19 May, the experimental exhibition “in between. You, life and finiteness" (“dazwischen. Du, das Leben und die Endlichkeit”) will open at the German Sepulkralmuseum. It's an interactive exhibition where visitors can share their personal views on the end of life and help shape the museum's new permanent exhibition. A really interesting approach and I look forward to reading (and hopefully seeing) the results.
Trauerwoche 2024 / Grief Awareness Week 2024
Mark your calendars: from 28 October to 3 November, the second Grief Awareness Week will take place in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Like last year, the motto will be "Eat. Cry. Repeat.' and various offline and online events will be organised to bring people together to talk about grief and remember loved ones.
End Well 2024
A conference that has been on my list for a long time: End Well 2024 will take place again in Los Angeles on 22 November. Key voices and innovators in the end-of-life space will share the latest developments, projects and their vision for transforming death & dying.
Podcast Tip
I listened to a very interesting conversation between Brené Brown and Esther Perel on the Unlocking Us podcast, in which they both touch on the subject of grief. The main part is about "the other AI" - instead of artificial intelligence, Perel calls it artificial intimacy. It's about modern loneliness in our hyper-connected world. We are more connected, but less present. The technologies that help us remove many of life's inconveniences have also made us less and less able to deal with the inevitability of nature, love and life. You talk about ambiguous losses, mediated vulnerability, how we are losing the ability to deal with hard things and emotions, and the tendency to pathologise normal behaviour such as grief.
Listen to the conversation here.
Thank you for reading GOOD GRIEF NEWS, a monthly newsletter on trends and fresh perspectives around death, grief and remembrance. You can find more of my work at goodgrief.me or stefanieschillmoeller.com and follow me on Instagram.
17.05.2024