Writing with the Earth:
A Climate Writing and Resilience Project
Writing with the Earth is a nature-based writing project that explores how climate change touches our lives and the landscapes we love. This climate change art project is created and directed by Jen Johnson, environmental educator, nature and mindfulness-based counselor, writer, and photographer in collaboration with Andy Fairbanks at Halyburton Park in Wilmington, NC.
On a February afternoon in 2026, 15 people gathered at the Halyburton Park Nature Center to pause, reflect, and write with the Earth. Together we considered the changes unfolding in the world around us—the increasing heat and flooding, rising sea levels, increasing frequency and intensity of storms, and the losses both seen and unseen—and how these changes touch our lives, our communities, and our hearts.
Guided by the science of climate change and practices for emotional resilience, we explored what it means to live with awareness, care, and hope. We walked to the Longleaf Pine conservation area of Halyburton Park, where the life of these enduring trees offered a mirror for loss, adaptation, and renewal. Through grounding meditation, poetry, and reflective writing, participants opened their hearts and voices, responding to prompts about grief, hope, and the future we will leave for generations to come.
According to the Climate Change in the American Mind Fall 2025, 65% of Americans say they rarely or never talk about global warming with friends and family. This “spiral of silence,” can make it feel as though concern for the planet is rare, when in fact it is shared widely. Climate scientist Katherine Hayhoe reminds us: “The most important thing you can do to fight climate change is talk about it.”
The writing collected here invites you to pause, listen, and speak. It is part of an ongoing conversation about the Earth, what we love, and what we might do together to protect it.
Our hope is that this exhibit offers a beginning—a place where conversation about our changing climate can take root, and where our shared care for the Earth can be spoken aloud, remembered, and carried forward.
Jen Johnson & Andy Fairbanks
An exhibit of the writing will be on display for one month at the Halyburton Park Nature Center in Wilmington, NC beginning on Monday, April 13, 2026.
The writing will be displayed on this page soon!
“The most import thing you can do to fight climate change is talk about it.”
– Katherine Hayoe, Canadian climate scientist