Mapless, Messy, and Moving Together: Why We Need Climate Wayfinding
In a literal sense, we face a world where our physical and internal maps no longer work. Here in the Roaring Fork Valley, as we watch our winters shift, rivers run low, and forests dry, we feel this disruption deeply. The climate crisis is not a distant projection; it is a lived, daily context. Yet, as we traverse it, our internal maps fail us, too: Where do we live, what work do we do, and how do we cope?
As a Colorado Mountain College faculty member and trained Climate Wayfinding facilitator, my work is guided by a core belief: presence precedes action. Authentic, effective action only happens when we show up, calm our fears, and pay close attention. Yet, faced with ecological disruption, our culture often retreats into the sterile comfort of hard science or an exhausting checklist of transactional tasks. We are told to choose engineering over ethics, economics over emotions. As the author of Climate Wayfinding, Katharine Wilkinson points out, human-focused engagement is too often relegated to the sidelines of "boosterism and bake sales"—completely ignoring our messy, soulful dimensions.
This "peopleless path" is a high-risk strategy. If the climate crisis originates in human behavior, then planetary healing must center on human capacity and community connection. Tending our widespread engagement is itself a vital, foundational solution. Throughout all my teaching, I show students to view the world as our living textbook, meaning that our lived experiences, local stories, and physical landscapes are our primary resources.
But how do we sustain engagement when we carry so much? Many of us harbor "pre-traumatic stress"—the quiet panic, numbness, and grief of anticipating what lies ahead. We hold sway as to whether our hearts simply break, or whether they break open. When they break open, we awaken to fierce, regenerative possibility.
Without facing this grief, we opt for cosmetic band-aids and, as Wilkinson warns, we "tinker rather than transform". We need safe spaces to hold our big questions together. As poet Adrienne Rich wrote: "There must be those among whom we can sit down and weep, and still be counted as warriors". Like trees that only reach for the light because they thrive in the dark, our emotional-spiritual roots must go deep to cultivate inner clarity for outer service.
We must also dismantle the myth of the "lone hero". We do not need a single savior; we need a "leaderful upwelling" of everyday people. As writer adrienne maree brown notes, the most important thing an individual can do is "be less of an individual". We must learn the "art of flocking"—staying separate enough not to crowd, yet cohesive enough to move together.
This requires shifting from the exhausting question of "What can I do?" to a deeper inquiry: "Who can I be? Who am I already? Where do I belong?". We each possess climate "superpowers"—whether as a Careworker, Organizer, Builder, or Communicator. By aligning our authentic power with deep joy, we transform our worry into power. Joy is not a luxury; it is life's way of fighting back, and we are made for this aliveness.
This is the invitation of Climate Wayfinding. It is not a science lecture or career counseling. It is a collective space to look inward with care, outward with curiosity, and forward with courage. It is an invitation to orient from the "compass of the heart," to turn our feet, swivel our shoulders, and take even one clear step forward.
At our upcoming free community workshop on September 9 at 5pm at the Basalt Regional Library, we will sample these movements. Together, we will map our local Roaring Fork Valley ecosystem, unearth our unique superpowers, and begin building communities of congruence where we can walk alongside neighbors. This evening is a preview of the upcoming eight-week Climate Wayfinding course at Colorado Mountain College starting October 12, designed to help us co-navigate toward a resilient, just future.
We are all caught in what Wilkinson calls Earth’s 'net of unstinting, unequivocal love, and our deepest invitation is to participate in that exchange. Let us step out of isolation and find our footing, together.
Sarah Johnson is a Colorado Mountain College faculty member and certified Climate Wayfinding facilitator. Learn more about the upcoming Basalt Regional Library workshop, visit the Library website. And register for the upcoming course on CMC’s non-credit course registration page.
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