Sierra Club Climate Change Committee Meeting

Climate Change Committee Meeting

Join us on Zoom! https://zoom.us/j/5133069449

In-person events have been cancelled for all Sierra Club activities through February 2021. Dang.

6:30-7:15 or 7:30 – Finding Resilience in a Stormy Emotional Climate

I am Victoria Hendricks. You may remember me as the woman at the sign in desk from the days we could meet in person. I have thirty years of experience here in town as a communications and personal development consultant and coach here in Austin, specializing in grief and trauma counseling. My training came from special education and psychology departments at the University of Texas, and most meaningfully, from a decade of study with Dorothy and Mort Satten at Westwood Institute. I have had the honor to present guest lectures about grief and recovery at numerous universities and conferences, including Seton Hospital, St. Edward’s University, Preschool Mothers of Austin, and in several faith communities. I am honored to bring some of what I value on this tender topic home to the Sierra Club.

A year ago I couldn’t have imagined the life I’m living this fall, conducting my practice all by phone, not having been in a store since March, and always, in the back of my mind, the image of George Floyd unable to breathe, the knee of the police on his neck, as a continuous stream of meanspirited, untrue Tweets flows out of the White House. As we sit in our own houses, always aware of the location of our masks, concerned about job stability and expenses, we ponder the possible illness or death of those we love, even ourselves in a newly immediate way. We experience the atmosphere of hate and racism in our government, and fear for the security of what is the most important Presidential election in our lifetimes in relative isolation. There is no question that the emotional climate in which we live and try to help one another thrive has changed, and not in a good way. We are grieving and scared, beset by the extreme weather events of uncomfortable emotions and we must keep going any way.

How do we do that?
How do we help each other and ourselves feel what we feel and stay functional?
What are the signs in ourselves that the grief is getting to us, and what can we do about it?
How can we strengthen our own resilience and that of our communities in this time of toxic atmosphere?

I will offer stories, and suggestions based on research about individual and community mental health during difficult times. Research consulted includes works of Renee Lertzman, Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, John Gottman, and Arvim X Khendi among others.

You already have many your own stories, struggles and wisdom, which we will process in breakout groups. Even though we cannot go out for a beer and dancing after the meeting, we can still offer each other relationship “together apart”

I hope you can join us on Zoom from six thirty to eight on the evening of October 5. To join, go to ZOOM and choose “Join a meeting.” And enter the code 513 306 9449. You will be sent to a waiting room from which you will be admitted. I hope to see you then.

7:15-8:00 Climate Change Committee Meeting – Discuss Action Teams and allow people to sign up to continue the work to stop climate change, an imperative if we want our current civilization to survive. We’ve formed Action Teams on Austin Energy, the Permian Pipeline, Rio Grande Valley Support, Carbon Fee & Dividend, People Power, Data Entry, and Presentations and more. We have identified additional action teams we’d like to form, including Transportation, Climate Justice, Partner Organizations, School Education, and Social Media. Whether you have only minutes a month or hours a day, join us to build a mass movement to stop climate change. Or join another group fighting this vital cause.