JOANNA MACY on the World As Lover And Self ⌠ENCORE⌡/207
Photo by Kelsey Moore
In this quintessential For The Wild episode, initially released in January of 2015, Ayana speaks to eco-philosopher, author, teacher, and scholar, Joanna Macy. As we find ourselves alive in this time of great turning, where feelings of grief, despair, and gloom are omnipresent – we seek counsel from Joanna on finding emotional courage, building allyship, and practicing gratitude for all which moves us. Joanna begins by reminding us that “the whole late capitalism project would have us distrust our feelings and privatize them”, instead of succumbing to denial, complacency, or isolation we can emerge from it, and move through it, to participate in radical transformation and collaborative action. By accepting the truth of our times, we can see the world as our larger living body, freeing us from the assumptions and attitudes that now threaten the continuity of life on Earth. Joanna offers her wisdom for remaining sane and grounded as life-long activists in the uphill battle of ecological crisis.
“It’s easier to manage a population that is silent, depressed, isolated and obedient, but you didn’t buy into that for some blessed reason...”
Joanna Macy
Joanna Macy Ph.D., author and teacher, is a scholar of Buddhism, systems thinking, and Deep Ecology. A respected voice in movements for peace, justice, and ecology, she interweaves her scholarship with learnings from six decades of activism.
Her wide-ranging work addresses psychological and spiritual issues of the nuclear age, the cultivation of ecological awareness, and the fruitful resonance between Buddhist thought and postmodern science. The many dimensions of this work are explored in her thirteen books, which include three volumes of poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke with translation and commentary.
As the root teacher of The Work That Reconnects, Joanna has created a ground-breaking framework for personal and social change, as well as a powerful workshop methodology for its application. In the face of overwhelming social and ecological crises, this work helps people transform despair and apathy into constructive, collaborative action. It brings a new way of seeing the world as our larger living body. This perspective frees us from the assumptions and attitudes that now threaten the continuity of life on Earth.
♫ Music by Roberta Flack, Pharoah Sanders, and Roy Harper
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For The Wild is a slow media organization dedicated to land-based protection, co-liberation, and intersectional storytelling. We are rooted in a paradigm shift away from human supremacy, endless growth, and consumerism. As we dream towards a world of grounded justice and reciprocity, our work highlights impactful stories and deeply-felt meaning making as balms for these times.