This summer is different to what many of us expected. We were told to brace for a hot, dry summer, and while bushfires and heatwaves have featured, we have also seen flooding, heavy rain, storms, and cyclones across much of Australia. Being faced with the realities of the climate crisis is often distressing, and unpredictable weather events can bring up unpredictable feelings. 

Climate emotions—such as dread, numbness, fear, overwhelm, yearning, or even hope, determination, and awe—can be disorienting, particularly when, like extreme weather, they change rapidly. One minute you may feel despair for the state of the natural world, and the next be awe-struck by its resilience. You might feel frightened about the future for most of the day, then suddenly feel numb. You also might feel multiple emotions at once, or not be able to identity what you’re feeling. Even though these changing and overlapping emotions can be confusing, these shifts are normal and healthy. 

There is no one way to feel about the climate crisis. No emotion is good or bad, and every emotion has a purpose. Feelings give us information about our experience of the world, so that we can make decisions and take action. The aim is not to suppress or restrict our emotions, but to make room to feel them. The more we are able to notice and stay with what we are feeling—knowing they will inevitably change—the more we can use the information to take action in ways that are supportive to us and our community.

Emotional agility in a climate crisis 

Emotional agility—a term coined by psychologist Susan David—is the ability to be flexible with our emotions and how we relate to them. By noticing our feelings, we have access to all the information available to us, helping us make decisions that align with our values. Emotional agility is not about forcing our emotions to change so that we instantly feel better, or avoiding uncomfortable feelings. It’s about valuing each emotion as worthy of being heard. By becoming aware of what we are feeling and putting words to our experience, we can respond with flexibility and perspective as situations change. “How we deal with our inner world drives everything,” says David. “The conventional view of emotions as good or bad, positive or negative, is rigid. And rigidity in the face of complexity is toxic.” 

The climate crisis is about as complex as it gets, and we need access to all of our emotions to respond to it in healthy ways. Being flexible with how we relate to our feelings can help drive decision-making that supports ourselves and our communities. Emotional agility helps us to feel less stuck.

What does emotional agility look like?

The first step is to connect with yourself and try and name what you are feeling. It can help to notice any sensations arising in your body, to journal about it, or chat with a friend or therapist. There is also an exercise at the bottom of this page to help get you started. 

You might notice disappointment, for example, and this might lead you to cry —which could then bring sadness (a new emotion). Or, the disappointment could prompt you to write to your local MP, which might then make way for anger or determination. If you notice sadness or shame, you might reach out to a friend or go to a Climate Café for some human connection (which could lead to a sense of belonging). 

Emotional agility is about following each link in the chain of emotion-response-emotion that guides our lives; the more we are aware of our emotions, the more mindful we can be about our decision-making. But it’s also important to note that emotions don’t always need us to take action: simply noticing them might be enough. All emotions belong, and we need acknowledge them all to live meaningful lives amidst a climate crisis.

Practicing emotional agility: use LOVE

When we notice that we’re feeling something, but we’re not sure what to do, we can follow the acronym LOVE to respond to our experience. LOVE stands for Listen. Observe. Validate. Express. This practice can be done anywhere and only takes a few minutes, but it might be helpful to find somewhere quiet or private if that is supportive for you.

The first step is Listen. Listen to what’s showing up as you notice your emotion(s). Listening might mean noticing physical signs of emotion in your body— heart rate, body temperature, tension—or it might mean listening to the kinds of thoughts that are crossing your mind. There might be a lot going on inside you, or nothing much. You don’t have to change or stop these thoughts or sensations; just listen and acknowledge them. 

Observe is the next step. This means spending some time with your emotions, even just a few seconds. Observing what’s happening inside you will help bring some space between you and the emotion. The aim isn’t to get rid of what you’re feeling; the aim is to notice that there are two parts to the experience: 1) the emotion, which is bringing an experience; and 2) the ‘me,’ a human being who is witnessing and being with those feelings.

The next step is Validate. Remind yourself that whatever you’re experiencing is valid, no matter what it is or how it’s showing up. Given the context of the climate crisis, your emotions make sense and are proportional to what we are going through. Validating your emotions is about saying to yourself, ‘Hey, it’s okay. It makes sense that you are thinking and feeling this way right now. This emotion belongs.’ This leads us to the final step: 

Express. This is where you make a choice about how you would like to follow this emotion to a response of some kind. It can be helpful to ask: ‘What’s really important to me right now? What is this emotion trying to tell me? How is it asking me to respond to it?’ Our responses are as varied as our emotions, and your own response to each emotion will be different each time. You might decide that simply noticing the emotion is enough for now; you might want to take some sort of action on climate change, or it may be that you already do that daily and in this moment you need space and time to settle, reground, and anchor. Here are some more ideas: 

• Express yourself creatively through drawing, writing, singing, dancing, moving your body.
• Go for a walk or a sit in nature; really take some time to notice the colours, textures, movements, smells. If you can’t go outside, observing a plant on your desk or in your home can be helpful. 
• Chat with a friend about what you’re feeling.
• Come to one of our upcoming online Climate Cafés, where all people and emotions are welcome. 
• Sign up to our newsletter to be the first to access our new online offering—the Climate Feelings Space, coming soon!