The green boat : reviving ourselves in our capsized culture
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

"In this powerful and groundbreaking book, Mary Pipher explores how we can conquer our fears about the major environmental issues we face -- global climate change -- and transform them into a positive force in our lives. Pipher argues that we're now at a point where the world's troubles seem beyond our human capacity to understand them emotionally. Even more alarming, she writes, is that 'people avoid facing problems they have no idea how to solve.' The result, Pipher says, is that 'we are in over our heads, and at some level, all of us are looking for a life buoy.' But ignoring problems or refusing to address them isn't the answer, either. Instead she advocates the value of taking small, constructive steps toward preserving what's fundamentally important to ourselves and to the planet. Drawing from what she learned as she evolved from anguished observer to environmental advocate (after becoming part of a grassroots organization fighting energy company TransCanada's proposal to install the Keystone XL oil pipeline across the Midwest), Pipher realized 'we can acquire the skills we need to overcome our sense of doom, and discover our capacities for transcendent coping.' She recounts the challenges she faced and the surprising answers she found to the critical questions: How do we mobilize ourselves and our communities to work together to solve global problems? How do we stay happy amid very difficult situations? And what is the true meaning of hope? Both profound and practical, intimate and far-reaching, THE GREEN BOAT illuminates how we can attend to the world around us with calmness, balance, and great love." --Provided by publisher.