The mourning of the fig tree downstairs
I realized one day that the fig tree in the square below my house had been cut down. This tree, planted by a friend a few years ago, meant a lot to me. In an urban environment, every piece of nature has a great importance. Beyond the tasty fruits that I love but for which I had few illusions (the competition was going to be tough with all the inhabitants of my neighborhood :)), this tree was the promises of a denser shade in the summer, of perfumes so characteristic, of happiness to see it grow a little more every day and expand. I felt a great sorrow inside me, an almost visceral emptiness.
The concept of solastalgia
The Australian philosopher Glenn Albrecht1 theorized what I felt at that time as solastalgia. This neologism, composed of the words solace (relief from suffering or provision of comfort or consolation in the face of distressing events) and algia (pain, illness), came to him to qualify the distress he observed in Australian populations confronted with mining projects in their homeland.
He started from the term nostalgia, which in its first meaning, means the pain generated by homesickness.
For him, solastalgia represents the pain or illness caused by the loss or lack of comfort and the feeling of isolation related to the current state of one's home and territory. In other words, it is the feeling of losing comfort in what has always been your home, a kind of homesickness feeling without moving. It is the sadness felt when a place we love is damaged. But it is also an intense desire to keep our place in a state that allows us to maintain comfort.
While his concept emerges from a strong territorialization (the change in one's living environment related to an industrial project), he nevertheless generalizes it: "I argue that the experience of solastalgia is now possible for people who have a strong empathy with the idea that the land is their home and that events that destroy endemic place identity (cultural and biological diversity) in any place on earth are personally distressing for them."
The effets of solastalgia
Eventually, solastalgia can lead to serious physical and mental problems such as drug use, physical and mental illness (depression, suicide).
However, Glenn Albrecht observes that the effects can also be beneficial by encouraging the individual to initiate action. For example, the Youth for Climate movement starts from this strong anguish to become a collective and feel a greater strength.
It is exactly this breaking point that fascinates me: understanding what will influence one direction or the other. Why do some people lock themselves into bitterness, disillusionment, anger or even misanthropy while others remain in a kind of active hope? What is our internal resilience, our strength, our light, one could say on a spiritual level? What is more related to a social organization, the meeting of people sharing our observations and the greater ease of action in a collective organization?
The possibility of a re-enchantment?
During the 20 years that I spent working on environmental issues with decision-makers, I have very often been confronted with solastalgia: an acute awareness of the major issues at stake in the face of a lack of response from policy-makers. I remember a very precise moment during my last job at the University of Grenoble when I was more particularly confronted with it.
At the time, I was in charge of the relationships between science and territories on climate change issues, particularly through the dissemination of the most recent scientific knowledge. And in a mountainous region, the problems caused by climate change are particularly important, whether in relation to water resources, the evolution of biodiversity, natural hazards, etc. I spent my time listening and passing on observations and projections, each more alarmist than the last.
In early December 2018, to respond to the crisis of the Yellow Vests, the government of Edouard Philippe decided to cancel the carbon tax, whose objective is to reveal a little better the real price of the use of carbon products, integrating its impacts on the environment. At the same time, Jair Bolsonaro, a notorious climate denier, was elected president of Brazil, joining Donald Trump and other men of the past. I remember very clearly crying while listening to the news on the radio. A feeling of rage, helplessness and incomprehension filled me.
This precise moment made me realize that it was impossible to continue this work in a passive way: it was impossible for me to be only the conveyer of catastrophic news. I had to find what we would call today empowerment, that is to say the capacity to act in order not to feel useless, impotent. Clearly, the idea was not to solve the problem of climate change but to feel that at my level, it was possible to carry out actions that would rekindle the flame of my hope. Without this hope, I felt useless in this challenge that awaits us collectively.
My years of practicing and teaching yoga have been a great help in this realization. I have learned to cultivate joy within myself and to connect with who I am deeply.
This message of trust and hope is conveyed by many thinkers and spiritual masters on this issue of ecological challenge. I am intimately convinced of it too. I have around me too many people feeling this global solastalgia that manifests in the form of anger and deep anxiety. It's time to turn the tide and find out what will tip the balance towards more positive reactions.
We need to reclaim our capacity for enchantment in order to create together the conditions for comfort (solace) in our environment.
1 Albrecht, G. ‘Solastalgia’ : a new concept in health and identity. PAN : philosophy activism nature. 2005; 3, 44-59.