What are you holding on to, my friends, to make your way through these difficult days?
News of the world environment
NEWSLETTER | NOVEMBER 3, 2023
Sitting With Grief
My younger one fell sick this morning and had to be brought home from her elementary school right as I was getting started on this newsletter. Over at my colleague Zoe’s place, both her little ones are recovering from viral infections that took up a lot of her time this week. Then, this morning her baby’s daycare closed unexpectedly — too many staff members called in sick, apparently.
We are in our winter print issue production sprint right now, so these season-of-sniffles-and-bugs setbacks are really stretching our capacities and adding to our stress levels. But, in a way, I’m glad our work schedules are packed and our babies are sucking up the last bits of our time and attention. Because it means I have other things to focus on, to hold on to, amid this crushing vortex of death and rage and pain and grief that has gripped the Middle East and is reverberating throughout the world.
That doesn’t mean that I’m not seeing. That I’m not grieving, as I’m sure most of you are as well.
I don’t have much to add to the charged discourse on the matter other than to reiterate what I have said in the past — in war, everyone loses, nature included. It’s never the answer. I don’t pretend to know what the answer is, but right now, I’m working on getting through the days, while also acknowledging the pain that we are all feeling, albeit in unequal ways.
What are you holding on to, my friends, to make your way through these days when the fragility and impermanence of our lives are laid out so horrifically bare before us?
I hope it is acts of kindness and care, however small. I hope it is community. I hope it is love.
Maureen Nandini Mitra
Editor-in-Chief, Earth Island Journal
Photo by Daniel Frank
TOP STORIES
Vanishing Pastime
By 2050, up to half of the Netherlands could be under the Atlantic. But climate change has already stolen a key part of Dutch culture: skating on frozen lakes and rivers.
READ MORE
Seabird Flu
An unprecedented influenza epidemic is wiping out populations of wild birds on nearly every continent. Researchers fear that seabirds and their nesting grounds are next in line.
READ MORE
As a nonprofit, Earth Island Journal is driven by purpose, not profit. We have no billionaire benefactors. We rely on the support of people like you. Can we count on you to donate to the Green Journalism Fund?
Count me in!
A New Colombia?
Per square foot, Colombia is the most biodiverse country in the world, but its natural resources have long been exploited to benefit the wealthy few. The country’s new, progressive administration might signal a new Colombia on the horizon.
READ MORE
ICYMI
Leave Them Be
Drop your rakes and take two steps back.
WATCH HERE >>
Photo Annie Spratt
Javelinas to Orcas: ‘Hold My Beer’
First it was orcas targeting yachts. Now javelinas are damaging golf courses. What next?
READ MORE >>
Photo Henry/Flickr
Did a thoughtful friend forward you our newsletter? Keep up with the latest from Earth Island Journal!
SIGN UP TODAY
Follow
Follow
Subscribe
You are receiving this email newsletter because you signed up on our website.
If this newsletter was forwarded to you, you can sign up to the email newsletter here.
Support our work by subscribing to our quarterly print magazine.
Copyright © 2023 Earth Island Journal, All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is:
Earth Island Journal
2150 Allston Way Ste 460
Berkeley, CA 94704-1375
Add us to your address book
Want to change how you receive these emails?
Update your preferences
