‘The Anthropocene’ is a term that is increasingly used to define a new planetary epoch: one in which humans have become the dominant force shaping Earth’s bio-geophysical composition and processes. Although it originated in the Earth Sciences, it has since been widely adopted across academia and the public sphere as a catch-all description for the overwhelming impact of human activity on the planet. https://www.anthroencyclopedia.com/entry/anthropocene
The Anthropocene is a time when the human impact on Earth is becoming alarmingly apparent. The seas, heavy with plastic waste, are rising due to global warming caused by the burning of fossil fuels. The polar ice caps, the permafrost and the glaciers are melting as the temperatures rise across the globe. The soils are contaminated with pesticide run off, chemical fertilizers and, in the worst case, radio-active waste. Climate change brings us terrifying and unpredictable weather. Biodiversity is threatened and species extinction is accelerating because of deforestation, urbanization and modern agricultural practices…
but all of that information and more can be found by simple Google searches or watching the nightly News.
What interests me is how the Anthropocene affects us mentally and emotionally. Personally, I have experienced deep levels of fear and anxiety, even despair as I realize that we humans have caused this environmental mayhem but are also the victims of it. The Earth is our home but we have despoiled our own nest. It all makes me question many of the ideas and attitudes that I have been taught to believe about what it means to be human. In examining and rethinking these attitudes I hope to develop more psychological resilience. I want to move through the paralysis of fear and join with others searching for a way through the impasse of anthropocenic thinking.
Taking the ideas of the anthropologist, Tim Ingold as a guide I am wayfaring through a wide range of ideas and concepts that shed light on the way the human/nature divide has brought us to this impasse.
Rather than sink into fatalistic despair I seek to find pathways that will take me into what Ingold describes as a dynamic and embodied engagement with the world. Part of this process involves creating journal pages where I combine my own photos and digital images with keywords and phrases about the concepts I am researching.
Wayfaring 
Suzanne, thank you for clarifying for me, both what anthropocene is, and the purposeful journey you have begun in relation to it.
For me, it has become so overwhelming that all I can do is live one day at a time within its confines. On the way to Grand Rapids with my older son today, to visit younger son and his family, he told me of a dream he had, where there was a great black dome encasing the planet and that the stars were holes poked in the dome where one could look into another realm.
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Ooh I like the idea of journeying through star power. 🙂
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I’m equally stressed. I was hoping the worst wouldn’t happen in our lifetime but it’s upon us. Your search is finding a grace, a psychological survival. Inspiring!
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Thanks Petru. I agree, the Anthropecene is here. Where we go now is what I’m exploring.
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We need to take a hard look at how unsustainable capitalism has proved to be. Trouble is, those benefitting from it are loathe to give up the gravy train, even at the expense of the rest of us. Keep writing, Suzanne. You are doing important work. At least now climate crisis is finally on the evening news. “What do we want?” “Climate justice.” “When do we want it?” “40 years ago!” Sigh.
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Yes, that’s all true. Maybe it’s taking so long because what has to happen is a huge shift. A way of thinking that has been in place for a very long time needs to be dismantled. The work we did forty years is just the beginning!
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I agree with Sherry. Your explorations are important to share. We are all on this journey now. (K)
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Thanks for your support. I’ll see where I go wayfaring today – lots of ideas forming 🙂
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The awareness you talk about- both on the science and events and the pathways to coping are so critical. When I wondered why some people were not afraid enough, I realized it is because they didn’t know enough. All the voices together writing on this topic may advance that overall awareness…I hope. And that journal looks so good!
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Many people are ignorant of the true facts as you say but I think many, many people are in denial. It is very hard to face the fact that our cultural values and the way we live has created a world that could well become unliveable. To accept the reality of the situation calls into question the way most of us live on the planet. It’s easier to go to mall and buy some new shoes or watch a funny show on Netflix. 🙂
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