Laura Marris: Sensing into our longings and "the age of loneliness"
Nov 1, 2024
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Laura Marris, a writer and translator known for her insightful book 'The Age of Loneliness,' explores the connections between loneliness, ecological loss, and public health crises. She discusses how our longing for connection can catalyze ecological awareness and community ties. The conversation delves into the role of nature in combating loneliness, the importance of intergenerational ecological memory, and how local activism can foster deeper relationships with the environment. Marris emphasizes the need for diverse expressions to combat feelings of isolation.
The interconnection between ecological grief and loneliness highlights the need for a heart-centered approach to restoring our lost connections with nature.
Access to natural environments significantly influences mental health, revealing the importance of fostering green spaces to combat rising feelings of loneliness and anxiety.
Deep dives
The Need for Community Support
Independent media faces challenges in securing funding, making community support essential for its survival. The host emphasizes that contributions from listeners directly influence the show's ability to continue offering alternative perspectives. Without corporate sponsors or foundation grants, the show relies on listener donations to thrive within a media landscape that often neglects diverse narratives. This financial backing is framed not only as a necessity but as a community investment in the power of narrative and cultural change.
Exploring Eremocene: The Age of Loneliness
The concept of the Eremocene, or the age of loneliness, reflects a deepening connection between ecological grief and individual longing. It suggests that loneliness can serve as a catalyst for understanding what is missing in our lives, as well as our relationship with the environment. By reframing ecological grief as a negotiable relationship rather than a finite loss, individuals can derive strength and stubbornness in their longing for connection with nature. This perspective pushes against apocalyptic thinking by encouraging a more hopeful view of human-environmental relationships.
The Impact of Nature on Mental Health
Research indicates a strong link between exposure to natural environments and positive mental health outcomes. Studies like the Urban Mind Project show how access to greenery, water, and wildlife significantly influences feelings of loneliness and well-being. Meanwhile, data highlights increasing rates of anxiety, depression, and chronic disease, suggesting a correlation with diminished green spaces in urban areas. This connection underscores the importance of fostering environments that support mental health through natural landscapes.
Intergenerational Connection through Ecological Memory
The concept of shifting baseline syndrome underscores how each generation's expectations of the natural world change, leading to a diminished sense of what ecosystems once thrived. The author's discovery of their father's bird lists serves as a poignant example of how personal archives can foster intergenerational ecological memory. By recording and reflecting on changes in local biodiversity, individuals can appreciate their surroundings and advocate for restoration efforts. This approach emphasizes the need for community engagement in ecological science as a means to preserve and understand local environmental histories.
How might we listen to our hearts more and tune into this “age of loneliness”? What are some vital connections between our public health crises, the loneliness epidemic, and our eco grief and anxiety? And what are the possibilities of intergenerational longings — for things already lost and gone amiss that we may not even have personal relationships with anymore, but that we must nevertheless work to restore and regenerate?
In this episode, Green Dreamer’s host, kamea, speaks with Laura Marris about the heart-centered stories, learnings, and inspirations from her book, The Age of Loneliness.
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