Coming Alive to the Work of Our Time

An opportunity to embrace the world just as it is and transform our love of the Earth into action.

“Coming alive” means honoring the full truth of our responses to these times: our heartbreak at the loss of wild places, our joy and delight in the beauty around us, our outrage at injustice, and our fears and concerns for the future of our world. With interactive and reflective processes drawn from the work of Joanna Macy and others, we will rekindle our love of the world and our commitment to the work that lies ahead.

The most difficult issues we face as activists and engaged human beings--the profound dysfunction of globalized consumerist culture, our deep disconnection from nature and abuse of the natural world, social injustice, suffering, war—taken together, create a palette that is almost more than we can bear.

Knowing that some of these conditions may intensify in the next few years as our society’s oil-based economic engine runs out of fuel and climate change kicks into higher gear generates pained responses that swirl from fear, outrage, and hopelessness, to sorrow, denial, and despair. The common human tendency in stress and crisis is to fall either into an adamant blind denial, or into dangerous, fearful hysteria. The enormity of the issues that are facing us in the 21st are a frantic, panicked reaction, or a furious denial coupled with hostility toward the “messengers.”

So what are we to do? How can we embrace the world as it is, keeping our hearts open and our love of life, creativity, and joy vibrant as we move forward? Finding our balance requires skillful means, reliable information, and supportive connections with community so we can respond in appropriate and meaningful ways to the world around us.

This workshop will offer an opportunity to explore our reactions to the world, using interactive processes, reflective practice, and a philosophical framework. A number of Joanna Macy’s exercises will be employed to broaden our perspectives and refresh our hearts. These tools can widen our awareness and kindle a fresh love of the planet, adding depth and meaning to our lives no matter what awaits just over the horizon.

Living Earth founder Betsy Toll will facilitate this day of “the work that reconnects”. A student of Joanna Macy, Catherine Ingram, and Ram Dass for many years, Betsy is committed to peace and cultural change activism and the deepening of ecological consciousness. Using a range of spiritual and conceptual perspectives we will refresh our deep connection with the Earth and our hope and vision for the future.

To Register

Send your check payable to Living Earth by Sept. 25 to: Living Earth, PO Box 86960, Portland, OR 97286.
For more information, call Living Earth at 503.771.1940 or email Living Earth Here. In Hood River, contact Theresa North.