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After Climate Despair: One Tale of What Can Emerge
Unknown Binding
Published January 1, 2018
15 people want to read
About the author
Jem Bendell
22 books28 followersJem Bendell is a professor of sustainability leadership and founder of the Institute for Leadership and Sustainability at the University of Cumbria.
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December 19, 2019
This is a dense work that follows Bendell's journey after he initially found himself digesting the bad news about the climate science. He went through a stage despair, which he notes is the reason some people give for not talking about how dire the situation is; specifically that "most people" won't be able to handle the news and will sink into a paralyzing despair.
But that wasn't the case for Bendell. Though he did struggle with the despair, he found a way to move through it. He gives some pointers about how to begin that process on a day-to-day level, with the suggestions you might expect, such as mediation, spending time with loved ones and in nature, doing things you enjoy, etc. But he also offers some very specific insights into his own journey through the metaphysical aspects of learning to live with his new perspective. It should be noted that none of this is offered as a guide, but rather as a look into one man's journey. If that can help someone else, so be it. He found a way through the despair with a concept called interbeing, taken from Thich Nhat Hanh and popularized by Charles Eisenstein. The concept was rather opaque to me, and difficult to distinguish in practice from typical religious ideologies that "make one fell better," such as the "it's god's plan," trope and all that. Bendell addresses that head on, acknowledging that he can not offer proof that the concept he's talking about is not just a secular version of that very thing. He is simply offering a peek into his process, what he learned, and how he understands it all.
I was able to flesh the concept out for myself a little bit better in my book group, where we talked about it at length, and arrived at some rudimentary understanding. To another reader, I would say you will have to do your own work on that, if so inclined; it's very esoteric and I could not explain the fragments of understanding we gathered in the group, at least not at this time with this thin understanding.
I do like Bendell's work and I find it helpful to immerse myself in the voice of an intellectual writer who shares my same interpretation of the available science and the implications. It can be a lonely place to be, even with my local compatriots.
But that wasn't the case for Bendell. Though he did struggle with the despair, he found a way to move through it. He gives some pointers about how to begin that process on a day-to-day level, with the suggestions you might expect, such as mediation, spending time with loved ones and in nature, doing things you enjoy, etc. But he also offers some very specific insights into his own journey through the metaphysical aspects of learning to live with his new perspective. It should be noted that none of this is offered as a guide, but rather as a look into one man's journey. If that can help someone else, so be it. He found a way through the despair with a concept called interbeing, taken from Thich Nhat Hanh and popularized by Charles Eisenstein. The concept was rather opaque to me, and difficult to distinguish in practice from typical religious ideologies that "make one fell better," such as the "it's god's plan," trope and all that. Bendell addresses that head on, acknowledging that he can not offer proof that the concept he's talking about is not just a secular version of that very thing. He is simply offering a peek into his process, what he learned, and how he understands it all.
I was able to flesh the concept out for myself a little bit better in my book group, where we talked about it at length, and arrived at some rudimentary understanding. To another reader, I would say you will have to do your own work on that, if so inclined; it's very esoteric and I could not explain the fragments of understanding we gathered in the group, at least not at this time with this thin understanding.
I do like Bendell's work and I find it helpful to immerse myself in the voice of an intellectual writer who shares my same interpretation of the available science and the implications. It can be a lonely place to be, even with my local compatriots.
Displaying 1 of 1 review