Why Grief can be Strength in a Warming World | Daniel Sherrell | TEDxFulbrightAdelaide

Climate change is on track to upend the very foundation of our society. So why is it still a weird thing to cry about? Daniel has spent his twenties organizing campaigns to fight climate change in New York City and State. In this bare-all talk, he delves into the emotional impact of the problem: his own grappling with numbness and grief, and his indecision about the prospect of fatherhood. Daniel makes a bold case for a new kind of mourning, not as a surrender to despair but as a source of human resilience--and just maybe the key to our survival in the coming centuries. Daniel earned his BA in Environmental Studies from Brown University. He has organized campus, municipal, and statewide campaigns to combat climate change, and transition to clean energy, and secure adaptation resources for vulnerable communities. Most recently he coordinated New York Renews, a coalition of labor unions, environmental organizations, and community groups campaigning to pass equitable carbon pricing legislation in the state of New York. His writing has appeared in the Colorado Review, Wag’s Revue, and The Best American Sports Writing. Daniel was a 2018 Postgraduate Scholar in Creative Writing from Brown University to the University of Adelaide. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

[@jngaio]

Thank you for this talk.

[@robertberley1584]

Thanks Daniel, for opening up about the inner pain we all experience but cannot talk about. Your insight that we need to start by not turning away is extremely powerful. Note that there are psychological models of emotion that help clarify and even explain the inner world and it's distress, though since they're labeled psychodynamic, they tend to be ignored or dismissed. Sad to jettison a real resource in favor of cognitive and "economic" theories that while descriptive, don't offer much depth or insight into why we feel what we feel. Carry on. Engaging, conversing, expressing our deepest (and often most hidden) feelings helps us connect and recognize the commonality of human experience.

[@Ayesha_F]

Thank you for this.

[@swolpert7442]

wow! What a great , moving talk!

[@leomariamandy007]

Thank you, Daniel...Lincoln Center, New York City is, culturally, a glorious venue to showcase so much of who we are and what we are capable of...from the majestic sounds of the Orchestra and Chorus to the magnificent voices of Opera to the magic coupling of Dance and Music. And it all begins with the rocking and sweet whispering of low-pitched lullabies to our beloved children. It is incumbent upon us and the loving trust our children have placed in us to illuminate the connection between purveyors of fossil fuels and the imminent ruin of our Sacred environment. Sadly, one of the consequences is the destitution of humankind's spirit and will to create. Humankind's history of witnessing Earth's bountiful beauty has inspired a multitude of Artists and now with Earth's demise on the horizon, the purveyors of fossil fuels are destroying flora, and fauna and ripping the souls out of humankind. Humans without souls might just as well be automatons. Humans with souls are complete and they live fulfilling and dignified lives. No polluting conglomerate, multinational, consortium, or individual has any authority to bring about the absolute ruination of Our Planet. How can we condone Matricide? Anyone defending our extinction economy is one of the many, placing a dagger in the Heart of Our Mother Earth.