05 January 2023
Erica Hellerstein on “solastalgia”
Erica Hellerstein, a Bay Area journalist, talks about “Grieving California,” her moving story about the grief of living in a state often on fire. She talks of our changing landscape, driven by climate change and natural disasters, and how it drives a feeling of nostalgia for a past that no longer exists, and a psychological toll heightened by fear for the future. As we look for solace in old memories, she says, we must come to terms with the fact that we can never go back to what used to be. As Joni Mitchell said, “you don‘t know what you‘ve got ‘til it‘s gone.”