Opening to Climate Grief: A Workbook Companion to Hold Fast
Opening to Climate Grief is a gentle, practical workbook for people whose hearts ache over the state of the Earth and who want something more than information, something they can do with their hands, breath, attention, and imagination.
Looking for the companion book?
Opening to Climate Grief is the practical, hands-on companion to Hold Fast. This 140-page Workbook takes the Hold Fast ideas and translates them into direct, accessible practice. It is organized into six tributaries within one "river of healing": Orientation, Naming Losses, Staying Connected, Resourcing, Re-Engaging, and Integration.
Each section offers short readings, straightforward questions, and invitations to write, draw, and reflect, with ample space on the page for journalling or simple drawing.
A typical page combines a brief, plain-language reflection with one or two clear prompts and room to respond. Some pages invite readers to list specific losses or fears, while others focus on naming sources of support, identifying places of solace in Nature, or planning small next steps. The Workbook can be used alone or in groups, at whatever pace feels manageable. It is designed to give readers a safe, guided way to work with climate-related feelings over time, turning the Hold Fast framework into a lived, ongoing practice.
Preface
This week, Jordan turns 44. He is one of my favorite people, and I have known him since the day he was born. He has a wonderful wife, two sweet young children, and a promising career in the mental health sector. He is a kind, thoughtful, and generous person, and it is a profound honor to call him a friend.
We are tucked into our favorite spot: the brew pub in Vancouver's Stanley Park, walking distance from my apartment. A soft rain falls outside as the last light is fading. We are held in the great bowl of the forest, encircled by whispering conifers.
What is Climate Grief?
Climate grief (sometimes also called climate distress, climate anxiety, ecological grief, or environmental sorrow and other terms) is the pain we feel in response to these sorts of things:
Actual losses of ecosystems, species, seasons, and ways of life
Anticipated losses we know are coming but cannot yet fully see
Harm already done to the Earth in our names and in our time
Threats to children, young people, and generations of all life not yet born
It can show up as any or all of the following:
Sadness, heaviness, or heartbreak about the state of the world
Anger or outrage at inaction and injustice
Anxiety and fear for the future
Numbness, exhaustion, or a wish to stop thinking about it
Guilt or shame about our own lifestyles, histories, and complicity
Climate grief is not a personal weakness or a sign of instability. It is a sane, loving response to an Earth in crisis. It tells us that we are still connected, still capable of caring.
This Workbook respectfully treats your climate grief as all of these things:
A form of love for the Earth and all beings
A source of information about what matters most
A doorway into deeper ecological belonging and ethical action
You do not need to "get over" this grief. The invitation here is to learn to live with it in ways that are less isolating, less overwhelming, and more aligned with your values.
The Ecological Self, Reconciled Self, and Reconciled Ecological Self
Before you begin to navigate these reaches, it may help to have a sense of how I imagine the inner "you" this Workbook is calling forward.
The Ecological Self is our connected self, the part that knows, in your bones, that you are woven into the living web of the Earth. Humans are not at the pinnacle of an evolutionary pyramid, but one strand among many, dependent on other beings and systems for our lives and well-being.
The Reconciled Self is my "accepting" self, the self that emerges after I have emotionally acknowledged and integrated a loss. Acceptance is our middle name when we are truly reconciled.
The Reconciled Ecological Self (RES) is the part of a human that turns toward the reality of climate breakdown instead of away from it. It is grounded and feels closely connected to all life and inseparable from the Earth. It acknowledges what has been done to the Earth, including harms done in our names, and chooses a fierce, grieving honesty and painful acceptance.