Seated in the audience, Nichole Warwick, contrary to Gore’s suggestion, very much reacted with despair.

“The entire day was heavily scripted,” Warwick recalls. “He used shock and awe to encourage direct action, but the action promoted was to become aligned with Al Gore’s organization. I was already deeply involved with community-based groups in Sonoma County, and had been recognized by the California State Legislature, Sonoma County Conservation Council, and Sierra Club Sonoma for my contributions by receiving the Outstanding Environmental Education Program-Educator Award. My action plan was the well-known mantra ‘Think globally, act locally,’ but as I left the conference something didn’t feel right — something was wrong.’

The something “not right” was a physical feeling, not a political one.

It turned out that Warwick had breast cancer.

“It has been seven years since my surgery,” she explains, “and I am now cancer-free. But those years can’t be wrapped up in some pink ribbon. I was really, really sick … unable to work. Fortunately, I had a strong women’s network in place — parents, therapists, educators, healers. Thankfully, the Ceres Community Project in Sebastopol fed my family when I couldn’t, and I have been on their Board of directors for six years.”

Warwick moved to Sonoma County to earn her degree in American History at SSU, and has a masters in Integrative Psychology from Saybrook University, so she’s clearly a skilled researcher.

“As soon as I learned my cancer wasn’t genetic in origin, I did a deep dive into environmental and lifestyle causes for the disease,” she explains. “I was frankly surprised with what I found. I was raised in the little goldrush-era town of Mariposa. It isn’t far from the pristine grandeur of Yosemite, and as far as crime is concerned, it is one of the safest places to live in California. Unfortunately, the town’s history revolves around the heavily polluting industries of mining and agriculture, and Mariposa’s land and water are infused with toxic, cancer-causing chemicals.”

Breast cancer patient advocates often declare that being cancer-free for five years means that person is a survivor.

Coincidentally, Daily Acts Petaluma’s self-described “small but mighty” environmental education nonprofit had recently completed a needs survey which prompted creation of an Environmental Health Education Program, and Nichole Warwick was hired as the Program Manager.

“I am co-facilitating an experiential workshop for Daily Acts entitled ‘Eco-Grief and Emotional Resilience in the Times of Climate Crisis.’ Licensed therapists Mimi Rose Bashaw, Shannon Rogue, and I will create a space where people who are holding in things that are difficult to put into words have permission to sit with their discomfort.”

That workshop takes place on Saturday, December 14, in Sebastopol.

Warwick wants the community to know that, “You are not alone in your grief. There are others in our community who are feeling and reacting to what is happening to our planet. As Sarah Crowell says, ‘The way we hold it all together, is to hold it all — together.’”