Time in the Woods: a retreat with Joanna Macy | Betsy Toll | A summary of Living Earth's summer 2005 retreat <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" /> <link rel="stylesheet" href="../../css/livingearth.css" type="text/css" /> <style type="text/css"> body { background-color:white; } </style> </head> <body> <div class="header"> <img src="../../images/banner.jpg" width="670" height="78" alt="Living Earth: Gatherings for Deep Change" /> </div> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="left"> <tr> <td width="178" align="left" valign="top"><img src="../../images/big-tree.jpg" width="178" alt="Hemlocks in SW Portland" height="600" /></td> <td valign="top" width="811"> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="10" align="center"> <tr valign="top"> <td> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="center"> <td><div class="menu" align="right"><a href="../../index.html">Home</a> | <a onfocus="if(this.blur)this.blur()" href="../../about.html"> About Us </a>| <a onfocus="if(this.blur)this.blur()" href="../../resources.html"> Resources</a> | <a href="../../archive.html">Archives</a> | <a href="../../volunteer.html">Volunteer</a> | <a onfocus="if(this.blur)this.blur()" href="../../donate.html"> Donate </a>| <a onfocus="if(this.blur)this.blur()" href="../../contact.html">Contact Us</a></div></td> </table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top"> <h1>Time in the Woods:<br /> A retreat with Joanna Macy</h1> <p class="author">by Betsy Toll</p> <p>Old growth forests, a sparkling river, natural hot springs, off-the-grid energy, and the strong land ethic of the worker-owned Breitenbush community created a perfect vessel in mid-July for Living Earth's workshop/retreat with <a href="http://www.joannamacy.net">Joanna Macy,</a> PhD Buddhist scholar, systems thinker, and deep ecologist.</p> <h3>Intensive immersion</h3> <div class="pullquote"> <hr /> <h3>“We are alive, <br /> as the Earth is alive.<br /> We have the power<br /> to create our freedom.<br /> If we have courage<br /> we shall be healers.<br /> Like the sun, we shall rise.<br /> If we have courage<br /> we shall be healers.<br /> Like the sun we shall rise.”</h3> <hr /> </div> <p>Thirty-five passionate activists from the West Coast and beyond came together for six days of intensive immersion in the philosophical framework and experiential processes that Joanna has developed in her work around the world over the past three decades. Mental health professionals, public employees, teachers, and sustainability, social justice, and peace activists gathered to explore this “work that reconnects,” and came away enlivened in our capacity for love and compassion, bringing fresh perspectives and new skill to our work for cultural change.</p> <p>In Portland the night before the workshop, more than 300 people heard Joanna outline the epic transition, the "Great Turning", facing the world as climate change, energy crashes, environmental stresses, and political/economic upheaval converge in the coming decades. The long-term implications for human activities are likely to be as profound as the radical reshaping of human societies that accompanied the emergence of agriculture 10,000 years ago and the Industrial Revolution of just two centuries ago.</p> <h3>Weaving the tapestry</h3> <p>The retreat provided a container to hold our deepest responses to the destruction, violence, greed, and fear so rampant in our times, rekindling our love of life and awareness of ourselves as vibrant members of this planet's living body. Days and nights were rich with theoretical and conceptual "brain-food" woven together with interpersonal and group work, the deep silence of sitting meditation practices, and openhearted dance, play, and celebration.</p> <p>Coming out of retreat, we re-enter familiar routines, responsibilities, challenges, and work. The wounds within our human communities and the Earth stand out in painful relief against a world sparkling with fresh beauty, fragility, potential, and preciousness. This time together provided a standard of comparison and a model of possibility to hold close as we move ahead.</p> <h3>The road ahead</h3> <p>Caring for the world and working to heal the wounds we encounter on the path-to the planet, to other species, and to ourselves--is infinitely worth our time and our hearts. Re-enlivening our spirits was the intention in convening this retreat, and it was indeed the outcome shared by each person present.</p> <p>We are living in the earliest stages of a transformative epoch for human societies, full of possibility and fraught with danger. In the times ahead, this collective human journey will call for each of us to bring our finest skills, qualities, and intentions to the tasks we will face. It is not an easy challenge, nor an easy time to be alive. But what better work could there possibly be?</p> <p>We invite comments and observations from Living Earth members and readers on this topic, and will post as many as possible on this site. Send comments to <a href="mailto:circle@livingearthgatherings.org">circle@livingearthgatherings.org</a> </p> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr valign="middle"> <td colspan="2" align="left" id="footer"> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="center"> <tr> <td align="right" height="13"> <div align="center"><span class="menu"><a href="../../index.html">Home</a></span><span class="menu"> |<a href="../../about.html">About Us</a> | <a href="../../resources.html">Resources</a> | <a href="http://www.livingearthgatherings.org/forums"> Forums</a> | <a href="../../archive.html">Archives</a> | <a href="../../volunteer.html">Volunteer</a> | <a href="../../donate.html">Donate</a> | <a href="../../contact.html">Contact Us</a></span></div> </td> </tr> </table> <div align="center" class="copyright" >Copyright © 2007 Living Earth. All Rights Reserved. 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