Stories connect us - and that’s one of the most powerful things in the world

It took me a long time to realise how much anxiety felt like loneliness.

Through many years of working with communities, I’ve learned that telling and listening to stories is one of the best and easiest ways to feel less alone. And when we feel less alone and less anxious, we find the power to change things.

Google searches for “climate anxiety” were 27 times higher in 2023 than in 2017. It’s easy to understand why: 2023 was the hottest year on record. Everywhere we look, there are news stories about climate devastation, extreme weather, and impending doom. We can’t pretend it’s not a problem, but when we’re paralysed by fear, we don’t act.

We’re learning that the best way to deal with these feelings is to connect with other people. Being part of a community that works to change things can protect against poor mental health in a way that individual actions, like recycling at home, cannot.

When people come together and share their fears, it can bring real hope.

This isn’t about telling positive, happy clappy stories. I’ve spent years doing story work on all kinds of unimaginably difficult topics. But I’ve seen real connection, tears, and even laughter when people share stories of adult incontinence, of being bereaved by suicide or surviving modern slavery. I remember a woman who attended a group about caring for a loved one who is at risk of suicide saying,

“I honestly thought I was the only person in the world who had experienced this, I thought I was alone.”

She and the group went on to create guidance for other carers and the professionals who support them. They didn’t share every detail of their stories publicly, but they used them to build connections with each other and to inform their work to change the system.

It’s easy to let fear overwhelm us, especially when it comes to climate change. But the antidote is connection. At the Centre for Public Impact, our Climate Change Initiative is working to build connections so that governments and communities can come together to take the collective action we need to tackle this unprecedented crisis.

For those of us who work in government and public services, it makes sense to approach our biggest challenges by creating spaces where we can share and listen to stories. Whether with the communities we support, with our colleagues or other governments, storytelling can inform our work and build the connections we need to do it well.