Connection is the only way we'll get through this

I disengage from climate news, but lean into climate stories.

The protests sweeping Los Angeles and the United States that have captured the world's attention have sparked thousands of narratives—positive, negative, and everything in between. Writing in the New York Times, Jean Guerrero recently made a striking observation about the protests that got me thinking about another area that sparks disparate, sprawling narratives spanning the political spectrum:

"The most formidable weapon on this battlefield is the human story."

I've been thinking a lot lately about this idea when it comes to how easy it is to slip into climate despair, or, as a way to protect my mental health, to basically just ignore climate news entirely. I think I speak for a lot of climate professionals when I admit that ever since Trump's re-election—and especially since the inauguration and his outright war against climate action—I've found it harder and harder to open my climate mailing lists, to click through climate headlines in the news, to engage with the "facts" about what is going on.

Instead, I find myself gravitating more and more to individuals—to the people working on climate solutions, however disparate they may be. I love hearing about all the initiatives people are starting and the latest insight they're gleaning from conferences and events. I love hearing about their professional milestones and the ways that they're connecting with others.

The openness and generosity I've encountered in the climate world is, I'm sure, a manifestation of this same feeling—people giving their time and energy to others, because this issue is both too big and too scary to deal with alone. It's not a space for egos, for self-aggrandizement. Of course these things do exist—we're all only human, after all—but by its very nature, climate fosters a collaborative, connections-and-community-oriented mindset.

This is what I am trying to achieve with Climate Swings, my podcast about climate career pioneers. That intrinsic human desire to feel connected to people. The need to understand that I'm not alone. The reassurance that I'm sitting on the just side of history, even if it may not feel like it right now.

Honestly, I'd have these conversations even if no one listened to them. The fact that a few people do makes me all the more convinced that I'm not the only one who needs to scratch this itch. At the very least, my guests also do. Climate change is as much a human story as it is about science, data, facts, nature, or any one of a million other things.

We're all feeling—no, groping—our way through this moment. If we want to not just survive, but actually make progress against huge odds, we have to keep connecting with each other, being in company with one another, and listening to each other's stories.