Why I Started Ecological Morning
My name is Elena Kazarov. I have been wondering for a long time how other people deal with ecological grief and anxiety. Driven by my own despair and sense of curiosity, I decided to turn outward rather than inward. I knew I needed a place where grief could flow freely, allowing a fresh consciousness to be born.
We need to talk more about the emotions we experience in the face of climate change, ecological collapse, mass extinction, polluted oceans, and disappearing natural spaces, not to mention the resulting impacts of these changes on human and non-human beings.
By inviting conversation with environmental activists, mental health experts, and all those who love nature, I seek to compile advice and perspectives that will help us live more peacefully and authentically. Grief and stress thrive in isolation; the solution lies in coming together.
About Me
If you know this about me, you know almost everything: nature is my church, and I believe on a cellular level that we have no legitimate claim to authority on this planet. I find nothing more beautiful than a healthy, diverse ecosystem; nothing more joyful than a wild animal in its home.
And yet, my primary subject of interest is, paradoxically, the human. I have always been drawn to the exploration of humanity’s relationship with nature, and the many forms the relationship can take.
I was born in Moscow, Russia and immigrated to the United States with my parents in 1991 after the USSR disintegrated. Both my mother and father are biologists, and I grew up surrounded by conversation about living things and their processes, from molecular to organismic to ecological.
My background is in environmental policy & economics, and I work in energy efficiency. I live in Portland, Oregon, happily wedged between the ocean and the mountains.
Disclaimer: I am not a mental health professional, and the advice and information I share is my own, unless credited otherwise.
Ecological Morning 