“I’m still not managing my ecoanxiety very well. I’m uncomfortable with her and don’t know how to direct her. That’s why I’ve been sticking with Nessa for a year! » From the recent friendship between the singer Florence K and Nessa Ghassemi-Bakhtiari was born a conference in which the two doctoral students in psychology will discuss ecoanxiety and creativity.
It was about a year ago that Florence K and Nessa Ghassemi-Bakhtiari met in the psychology department at UQAM. The first is conducting doctoral research on the myth of the tortured artist and the links between variations in mood, creativity and the psychological well-being of professional musicians. The second focuses on the consequences of socio-ecological upheavals on the well-being of young people and the importance of civic engagement during adolescence. At the invitation of the Society of Technological Arts (SAT), they will host, on October 14 and 15, the conference “In balance: ecoanxiety, engine of creative transformation”, at the intersection of their fields of interest. The event will take place under the immersive dome and will be enhanced by a visual and sound ambiance created by the artist Jules Roze.
Together, Florence K and Nessa Ghassemi-Bakhtiari will reflect on the ways in which ecoanxiety and creativity can coexist in order to promote adaptation to climate change. There is no question of a conference on “what to do and what not to do” to fight against global warming, explains Florence K.
The two students do not pose as experts who have managed to overcome their own eco-anxiety. “As a mother, I don’t know how to deal with it,” confides Florence K. “I avoid it because as soon as I think about climate change and I look at my children, I automatically suppress the thought. Working with Nessa was an opportunity for me to visit these emotions. » “I have my own journey,” continues his colleague, “and it’s important to say that the journey is not linear. […] Ecoanxiety isn’t just about being distressed. I consider myself eco-anxious, but at this point in my life, I feel really good about it all. »
But what exactly is ecoanxiety? According to her, the term refers to “the emotions, thoughts and behaviors that one can have when faced with awareness of the scale of climate issues and collective inaction”. “As long as we collectively do not take these problems seriously, this phenomenon will become part of our lives,” notes Nessa Ghassemi-Bakhtiari.
What the two doctoral students want above all to offer with this one-hour event is a space, too rare according to them, to welcome ecoanxiety and discuss it. A “container,” they say, in reference to the English expression “holding space,” which means being fully present for someone, without judgment or distraction. “The emotions linked to ecoanxiety are often those that are considered negative in our society,” notes Nessa Ghassemi-Bakhtiari. Anger, sadness, feeling depressed, shame, being anxious, these are all things where we tend to say: we shouldn’t experience it and we need to heal from it. Whereas when we are able to welcome negative emotions and find meaning in them, we can experience them in a much more healthy and adaptive way. In the context of climate change, this is essential. »
Creativity is a major element in this adaptation process, underlines Florence K. “Faced with a problem, you have to adapt. We will seek not only solutions that we already know, but also the idea of cognition of creativity and divergent thinking, which consists of seeking alternative and unusual solutions that can be useful. »
This creativity can also be artistic. During the conference “In balance: art and mental health” that she presented with Émile Roy at the SAT last year, the artist expressed how the lows her mental health experienced (she experienced an episode of major depression and diagnosed with bipolarity) had been channeled through music. This year, the public will be invited to experience the power of social cohesion of this medium. Creativity, we all have it in our hands, believes the woman who launched a new album on October 6 entitled Brazil, my love. And creativity will be needed.
