The emotions most people associate with environmental action seem to be shame and guilt. I propose paying more attention to emotions and leading with different

The emotions most people associate with environmental action seem to be shame and guilt. I propose paying more attention to emotions and leading with different ones since emotions motivate. The more I act on my environmental values, the more I feel joy, then community spirit and connection with people around me -- including taking the train to L.A. and back from New York. I see that joy in hundreds of conversations with world-renowned people on my podcast http://joshuaspodek.com/podcast http://joshuaspodek.com/podcast when they act too (before they act they tend not to show joy or community -- action creates it). I was more than successful when I lived contrary to my environmental values and felt happy then, but these emotions reach another level of depth and connection. They motivate me to act more, and achieve more of value. Meanwhile, guilt and shame seem to disengage people who aren't yet acting -- that is, the people most important to influence. Another emotion I find rising up with experience acting on my environmental values is disgust, the emotion I feel at the thought of a kindergarten teacher smoking in the classroom. It started from my picking up at least one piece of garbage from the ground each day and has spread to fast fashion, factory farming, flying, industrial food, and more. I don't like feeling disgust, but if my environment merits it, I'd rather feel it to motivate me to act. I think it would motivate those not yet acting, as with smoking before, more than guilt or shame. I propose working to connect environmental action with joy, community, and connection, and inaction with disgust. This is the first I've mentioned this idea so I welcome feedback.