Facing the Climate Emergency: Discussion & Grief Circle with Margaret Klein Salamon

Tuesday March 5th
Doors & drinks 6.30pm; Event starts 7pm

Living through the Climate Crisis and the Anthropocene Extinction presents us with overwhelming realities to grapple with. It's normal to feel a wide range of emotions, from anger and fear to grief and sadness. Most of us don't focus on those feelings most of the time. We get up, wash our faces, check tasks off our to-do list, brush our teeth, and climb into bed. We answer emails and queue at the supermarket. We participate in a society that rolls forward as if everything has stayed the same.

This is the life we're all living, while we read reports about 2023 smashing records as the hottest year on record and how 33% of species currently classified as "non-threatened" on the IUCN Red List are actually spiraling toward extinction. Living with this awareness can feel isolating and confusing, but this experience is more communal than we realise.

Dr. Margaret Klein Salamon, US-based clinical psychologist turned climate activist, founder of Climate Awakening and Executive Director of Climate Emergency Fund, will be visiting the UK and at Kairos to present the second edition of her book, Facing the Climate Emergency: How to Transform Yourself with Climate Truth.  A powerful resource for processing climate emotions, Facing the Climate Emergency offers psychological guidance and inspiring historical context to help readers process climate grief and move into action.

During the first half of the evening, Margaret will talk us through, and answer questions about, the five steps explored in the book: 1. Facing Climate Truth; 2. Welcoming Fear, Grief, and Other Painful Feelings; 3 Reimagining Your Life Story; 4. Entering Emergency Mode; and 5. Joining the Movement and Disrupting Normalcy.

We'll then have a break for a one-pot vegan supper that we'll all eat together, followed by a facilitated grief circle (or circles, depending on numbers).

It's not essential to read the book beforehand, but you will get more out of the evening if you do. You can buy a copy via the Climate Awakening website (all proceeds benefit activists through the Climate Emergency Fund). We also have a copy in the Kairos library. Contact events@Kairos.London for library opening hours.

Kairos, 84 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4TG

Doors open at 6.30pm for drinks. The event start at 7pm with a break for a one-pot vegan supper.

£8 members, £15 non-members. Food and drink complimentary.