Climate Change: Facing Despair; Gaining Empowerment: Film plus Talk. Tue June 25, 6.30 pm Sussex Neighbourhood House, 7 Prospect St, Pascoe Vale.

A Climate Action Merri-bek event. Zane Alcorn (from Rising Tide) presents "The First Wave". This film describes how everyday people shut down the world’s largest coal port for 32 hours.

This will be followed by a discussion with John Seed, a long-term environmental activist and a pivotal figure in the Deep Ecology movement. He will talk about how experiential Deep Ecology can help sweep away environmental paralysis and empower us to engage effectively to stop our slide into oblivion.

John was one of 109 arrested at Last November's kayak blockade of the world's largest coal port in Newcastle. This port exports 1% of all the world's greenhouse gasses and we hope that many of you will join 10,000 others there in the blockade planned for this coming November.

JOHN SEED: "We live in a culture where there is a profound denial of feeling.
We are taught to fear, conceal and repress feelings of anguish, distress, fear and
anger.
Feelings are an important aspect of our intelligence and when we suppress them, it
leaves us helpless, anxious and depressed, damages our ability to think clearly and,
especially, paralyses our ability to act forcefully and passionately on the basis of
what we know.
If we are unable to feel and honour the pain we feel for what is happening to our
world, then we are unable to act intelligently and decisively to address the social and
environmental ills that give rise to this pain.
My deep ecology workshops include "Despair and Empowerment"
processes which create safe contexts within which we can explore the banished
feelings and reclaim the power that is inevitably suppressed along with the feelings."

This is a hybrid event, both face to face and zoom. Everyone who registers will receive a link to the recording of the event.

If you can't attend, please check out the film from John's 2006 "Climate Change Despair and Empowerment" roadshow of Australia, US and Canada - https://www.rainforestinfo.org...