02 Apr Earth Grief
Reading ‘Earth Grief’ by Stephen Harrod Buhner was for me an experience of being in the feelings evoked by the territory of ecological loss. It begins with a dive into being earth. He uses the language of connection, rather than evoking the separation so common of science.
As the pages turned, I was engaged, disturbed, then relieved, concluding with a deep sense of peace. Stephen Harrod Buhner’s invitation is to step into the painful reality of receiving a collective terminal diagnosis. He describes:
“…the grief, pain, depression, and hopelessness we feel are not the problem (despite the soul-shattering impact of those feelings). They are symptoms of the problem. And it is the problem itself that we must face if we wish to address the crisis of our times…a crisis that exists out there in the wildness of the world as well [as] in here in the secret chambers of our own hearts.”
Like Vanessa Andreotti’s ‘Hospicing Modernity’, really opening to hearing the words in ‘Earth Grief’ takes courage. Yet the wisdom and truth-telling I found here also felt settling. I chose not to read the middle section at night. Instead, I titrated my way through felt but not often absorbed information. It is distressing and affecting to read of the irreversible impacts of micro-plastics, of pharmaceuticals, of extractive and exploitative industries. My strategy was to read the book in manageable doses with lots of resourcing.
Through the analogy of the personal loss of a beloved, Stephen Harrod Buhner guides us through a similar process with grief for the earth. He describes the dismantling of our inner world in the face of loss, and the slow process of transformation.
In ‘Earth Grief’, Buhner challenges the layers of denial that I cling to in the face of what is happening in ourselves, in our climate and in our planet. As with the work of ‘Deep Adaptation’, there is potential for joy, wisdom, purpose on the other side of feeling earth grief.
Humans are returned by Stephen Harrod Buhner to their rightful place as reciprocal beings with plants – whose extraordinary journeys over millennia breathe life into our world as we flounder. This is a reminder of interbeing in a more-than-human world, that humans too are of the earth, not above nature. For me this is a reminder of David Abram‘s writing.
If Earth Grief is the diagnosis, a shift in perspective to find collaborative connections with other plants and beings is necessary. Grief practices that tend without fixing are the medicine. When we allow grief to take our world apart, to grow and re-configure us, we become able to hold others, and find what is uniquely ours to do.
Grief Tending spaces welcome grief on all themes, including earth grief. We offer events online and in London and Devon.
Sarah Pletts is a Grief Tender and Artist who offers workshops in London and online, sharing rituals where grief on all themes is welcome. For more information about Grief Tending events see here.
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