It’s Okay Not to Be Playful: Embracing the Full Spectrum of Climate Emotions

No elephants were harmed in the writing of this post.

At Lighter Side of Climate, we believe that the doom and gloom approach to climate change communications does a disservice to those of us engaging in climate and sustainability work because it fails to account for the full spectrum of human emotions. To counteract this imbalance, we are all about finding a more joyful, playful way for folks to approach climate and sustainability work. 

But let’s acknowledge the elephant in the room: sometimes, we just don’t feel playful, and the idea of finding the 'lighter side' of anything, much less climate change, feels impossible.

It's natural and healthy to feel overwhelmed, sad, angry, or anxious about climate change. I mean, climate change, environmental degradation, mass extinction…these are huge, complex issues. Feeling the weight of them is a rational response. While I don’t think it’s helpful to dwell in eco-anxiety and existential despair, they are not a sign of weakness. Rather, feeling these things is a sign of caring, empathy, and awareness. They can even be a catalyst for action. 

In our quest to help sustainability leaders, university students, and other climate change-makers take a lighter approach to their work, we intentionally avoid toxic positivity. Toxic positivity is the relentless urge to “stay positive” in all situations. This mindset minimizes or outright denies unpleasant feelings like fear, sadness, or worry. Moreover, engaging in toxic positivity runs the risk of invalidating others’ experiences and can lead to burnout. 

Despite my penchant for the classic Midwest “nice” approach to life, my mood certainly isn’t sunny all the time, nor do I always feel like playing. While I can’t say that I experience climate anxiety or despair, I do have my bouts of sleepless nights as I worry about my parenting, my career, my kids, finances, our country’s slide into autocracy, and the precariousness of living in a country with little social safety net. 

We’re also not immune to unpleasant feelings at Lighter Side of Climate. While our default working arrangement is often being goofy around each other and we definitely seek opportunities to be playful, sometimes that isn’t the case. In fact, this week Tamara texted me before one of our regularly scheduled meetings to tell me her head just wasn’t in it that day– she needed some space to work through some internal conflict and challenging emotions. We decided that meeting when she was in that state of mind wouldn’t be all that productive, so we postponed for another day.

There are two things I love about this. First, we’re developing a culture at Lighter Side of Climate where authenticity is accepted. Second, we had the wisdom to understand that taking the time to work through unpleasant feelings is ultimately more productive–and humane–than trying to work around unpleasant feelings. 

I’m proud of the culture Tamara and I are co-creating at Lighter Side of Climate that creates space for all emotions, not just the "light" ones. It's about recognizing that working on climate — or, let’s face it, life in general — isn't about ignoring the hard stuff, but processing it. Make no mistake about it: Lighter Side of Climate still believes in the power of joy, connection, and playful approaches, but we understand they are part of the picture, not the whole picture. 

Working on climate and sustainability is hard. Doing so shouldn’t be about ignoring the storm; it's about building a boat that can weather it, even when it's rough. This involves acknowledging the waves. Or the elephant.