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Showing posts from October, 2021

Active Hope - spirals and vows

What happens when we make vows to ourselves and our community to live with the intention of the welfare of all beings? Joanna Macy connects Buddhism, ecology, systems theory and activism in her workshops on "The Work that Reconnects". Written into book form along with Dr. Chris Johnstone , Active Hope lays out the key elements for moving through this spiral. Worthy of reflection and intention in what they call a "study-action group", the book provides paradigm-shifting concepts and exercises to pull people together in deeper commitment to the work to confront the difficulties we face on the world, what they call "The Great Turning".  They describe this work as a spiral: the circle that goes around and around, but gets deeper and wider each time. You repeat but you never duplicate. This practice is about coming from gratitude; honoring our pain; seeing with new eyes; and going forth. Based in psychology, there are deep emotional aspects of this work, but t