HOW TO KEEP YOUR COOL WHEN THE WORLD IS ON FIRE

In 2016, after years of being on the frontlines as environmental activists, LaUra and Aimee were each suffering from debilitating burnout. As the Director of Outreach at a non-profit in Utah advocating for renewable energy, LaUra was becoming more and more jaded as the policies she and her team created were consistently ignored, opposed or diluted at best. Meanwhile, her girlfriend, Aimee, was walking the fine line between activism and mental collapse. Once an ambitious and passionate activist, attending every protest and rally she could, Aimee’s growing depression had turned into a two-week stay at a psychiatric hospital. According to the doctors, her passion for human rights was one of the factors driving her into suicidal depression. 

 How to Keep Your Cool While the World is On Fire is a groundbreaking book that fills a colossal gap in the discussion about the climate catastrophe: the emotional and physical toll of advocacy work. The fact is, in many activist and academic circles, caring for oneself and caring for the world are seen as separate endeavors. The authors, looking at their own lives, viscerally understood that this dangerous approach created a huge public health threat, and committed themselves to changing this paradigm by creating The Good Grief Network, a holistic program that would help activists like themselves take care of their own well being while trying to save the world.  

 What started as a small group of people around a kitchen table in Salt Lake City quickly grew. Soon media outlets like NPR, Time and Rollingstone were reaching out to LaUra and Aimee as experts in processing eco-anxiety. Requests were coming in from all over the country from people interested in starting their own groups. While early meetings of the Good Grief Network specifically addressed eco-anxiety, it soon became clear that the program extended well beyond grief about climate devstation. As the network grew, participants began to use the steps to cope with the toll of fighting against other systemic injustices: racism, class disparity, corporate greed, and government corruption.  

 Grounded in LaUra and Aimee’s personal stories, along with a solid foundation of science and policy, this urgent guide takes us through a holistic prescriptive program while examining an array of factors that contribute to our collective stress including—corporate gaslighting, distress intolerance, systems and emergence theory, and death anxiety. Included in every chapter are stories from participants who have developed coping skills that have transformed their lives in profound ways as well as exercises, journal prompts and resting techniques that will give readers the tools they need to take care of themselves while still working toward an impactful, heart-centered revolution.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Co-authors Aimee Lewis-Reau and LaUra Schmidt are the founders of The Good Grief Network, which has fast growing network in United States, with additional groups forming in five continents and 14 countries. GGN has been covered in Time, NPR, USA Today, CNN, NBC News, and The LA Times. Aimee and LaUra are the co-hosts of the podcast WHY?!? LaUra is trained in nonviolent civil disobedience, and is a Climate Reality Leadership Corps member & mentor and Aimee received her MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Georgia College & State University and is a trained healer and yoga instructor.