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Tacoma event will draw attention to PNW authors new books on climate change anxiety
Today at 2 p.m., a Tacoma bookstore will feature a discussion on two new books that explore climate anxiety, urging readers to draw on spiritual, Indigenous and psychological wisdom to transform despair into hope and collective action.
By Morgen White | FāVS News Reporter
Many fear rising global temperatures and climate uncertainty.
Suzanne Crawford O’Brien’s new book, “Climate Anxiety & Spiritual Resistance: A Guide to Kinship, Justice, and Hope,” claims the issue is ultimately a spiritual problem, and if we “want to solve it, we need to turn to the wisdom found in religious and Indigenous traditions.”
King’s Books in Tacoma will host Suzanne O’Brien along with Leslie Davenport, climate psychology educator, consultant, therapist and author of the recently published, “Transforming Climate Anxiety: A Workbook for Courage, Clarity, and Collective Action,” for a conversation at 2 p.m. to celebrate the recent publishing of both books. The conversation will revolve around transforming despair into action, and our relationship with the Earth and each other.
Kevin O’Brien, a colleague of Suzanne O’Brien at PLU who happens to have the same last name, will moderate the event this afternoon and ask both authors questions.
Despair & hope
The majority of Americans believe that the world will not do enough to prevent the worst effects of climate change according to the Pew Research Center and a recent report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) suggests those concerns are realistic after the findings show global temperatures are set to surpass what’s considered safe. The globally agreed-upon “safe zone” is a rise of 1.5°C (2.7°F) above pre-industrial levels, which was established by the 2015 Paris Agreement.
Suzanne O’Brien feels those concerns all too well, describing debilitating sleepless nights and fears for her son’s future in the preface.
She has been a professor of religion and culture at Pacific Lutheran University for 23 years, and while writing, thought about her students, their perspectives and questions, as well as the change in teaching over the years.
“Twenty years ago, I had to convince them climate change was even a real thing, and now I have to convince them they don’t have to give up and they need to keep working toward the world they want to live in,” Suzanne O’Brien said.
A secular Northwest
The events celebrating Suzanne O’Brien’s new book are largely secular cities. Some might ask, “What does this have to do with religion?”
“When we open the conversation and start thinking more multiculturally, communities of color tend to identify with their ancestral religious traditions at much greater rates than white folks do. That’s one of the arguments I often will make … when we, a secular Northwest, discount religion, that’s kind of a white privilege move,” Suzanne O’Brien said.
And while cities like Seattle, Tacoma and Olympia are largely secular, Suzanne O’Brien said there is a deep sense of spiritualism here.
“We’re more likely to be like I want to go hiking on a Sunday morning and have a spiritual experience. There’s also that deep reverence for Indigenous traditions. I think for many people, there’s a real strong sense that these are the original caretakers of land. We ought to be listening to what they have to say,” Suzanne O’Brien said.
Kevin O’Brien said he looks forward to moderating the event.
“The first time I read the book, what struck me about it was how impressive it is the way Suzanne’s full self comes across on the page. And at the same time, she is — with profound respect and erudition — drawing on deep cultural traditions that she gives full credit for their wisdom. So it is really a book about her, and it is really a book that points way beyond her,” Kevin O’Brien said.
Two books, one title
After an endorsement inquiry from Suzanne O’Brien, both authors realized their titles were coincidently almost the same.
Kevin O’Brien says it’s a testament to their character that despite the books publishing within a week of each other, there was no sense of competition, but rather a shared reverence for a topic they both care for deeply.
“I love that they’re together. And also, I’m probably, compared to some psychotherapists, a little more spiritual leaning in my orientation anyway, so it doesn’t feel like a big stretch,” Davenport said.
Davenport’s book is written in workbook form, offering exercises for the reader. The book includes a climate emotions wheel to help readers identify their emotions. She plans to have a poster of the wheel at the event with tabs that audience members can place on the emotion they relate to most.
“And suddenly we’ll see how there’s this collective shared experience to what’s happening in our world, which is kind of this really the starting place to being able to then do something about it,” Davenport said. “Things like change and social movement are not linear. Sometimes things go underground, and then when the time is right there, they build momentum and there’s the ability to act, even more powerfully or more cohesively.”
More upcoming events are on the horizon with Suzanne O’Brien:
Thursday, Sept. 24, 6 p.m.
Paperboat Books, West Seattle
Thursday, Oct.1, 6 p.m.
Orca Books Cooperative, Olympia
Suzanne O’Brien and Davenport will discuss their new books on the PLU campus in the Scandinavian Cultural Center on Oct, 14, 6 p.m.
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