Reading this strikes a deep chord. Just a few weeks ago I did a podcast with my friend, the grief therapist Patrick OMalley, and our conversation focused on so many of the things you mentioned. We humans don’t know how to suffer. We don’t know how to be with someone who is suffering. We better learn quick. The fate of our civilization depends on it.
Thank you so much for this. I look forward to listening to the podcast. It’s agonizing to need things to happen fast, and to know how stubbornly slow the change process can be. But then there are times in history when the pressure intensifies, and people become astonishing, even to themselves. I believe that people know in their bodies and beings that something is deeply, pervasively, wrong. I hope that can fuel courage and curiosity and a willingness to push past the terror of what is and out, into the unknown.
A page before asked to share why I joined... here's why: Joanna. I'm too tired right now to read your words here, but I will when I can. My story about meeting Joanna will be different from everyone else. Some have known her far longer than I, others for just a short time. Our lives circumstances differ. Where we live. What we've done. All stories that arise and drift away. What unites us is a woman who is essential, is essence, whose life is Now, is Present, who reminds us all of who we truly are.
At Schumacher College, Totnes, England in 1994, Joanna taught a two week residential course on Deep Ecology. On one of those days, there was a public conference nearby at Dartington Hall on Deep Ecology that Joanna co-chaired with Arne Ness, the Norwegian who is given credit for establishing Deep Ecology as a philosophy.
Throughout the two hours, Ness “dominated” the discussion. Afterwards, back in class, Joanna muttered these words: “You all just witnessed how difficult it is for a woman to be recognised in a man’s world”.
Here in Tasmania where I live, I did my first three day “Council of all Beings” workshop with John Seed in 1998. He and Joanna created this very powerful, embodiment of Deep Ecology.
Years later, I organised a residential retreat here that Joanna led over five days. And, throughout the years, whenever I was passing through Berkeley on my way back to Tasmania, we would catch up for lunch or afternoon tea (for a tightly choreographed hour in her busy schedule) at her home on Cherry Street. Deep and meaningful conversations? No. We gossiped.
And, this is why I so admire Joanna. One of the most intellectual of people I have come across with a healthy ego sure of her mission, yet… graciously humble with a heart always wider than her brilliant mind.
Wow. Thank you so much for these incredible reflections and stories. I had the good fortune to visit Darlington in May of 2024, so I can actually picture the Schumacher College building, which we drove past before walking the grounds of Darlington. To imagine you there, being with Joanna, taking that amazing course . . . how fantastic.
And how unsurprising that she was talked over. Ugh. I am happy that she said something to the class; happy to hear that she liked to gossip and trash talk as well as be fierce and intellectual when the two of you were together. I’m so glad you got to have such a wonderful relationship with her, and very grateful you took the time to tell me/us about it! Thank you for your wonderful continued work in the world.
Mahalo for your words Rebecca and Peter's response, both of which led me to reflect on my own Journey with Joanna. I first met her in Concord, MA in 1984 I believe. She and John Seed led a workshop including a Council for All Beings. The sharing and exercises we did were the first that really gave me a place to feel my own and others grief about the planet. I remember them and speak of them still, 40 years later! My awakening to Deep Ecology and the Dharma. Crazy impactful. About a decade later she led a weekend at Rowe Camp & Conference Center that I attended that introduced to me to Systems Theory and it's Buddhist connection to being a Shambhala Warrior. Even my mom, someone who never demonstrated in public but felt deeply about our Earth, flew to Utah to demonstrate against nuclear power because of Joanna. I still feel a connection to all her work - it touches my true feelings for our world. It has influenced the words I've spoken and environment I always tried to create at my own workshops and retreats. And best of all, like Peter said, she is a real person, a beautiful soul that can teach magnificently and also just be herself, another human in love with the world and all it is. May the rest of her Journey be blessed by all who love her and mirror back our gratitude for her and how she lived her life.
Thank you. I plan on reading this book now. As a long time Hospice and Palliative care nurse, I have explored grief. People often ask how I can do this type of work. I respond that yes, it can be sad, but I am helping so I don’t feel profoundly sad as one might think. I am filled up by the helping, by the exploration of grief and being comfortable sitting with people while they go through it. I feel like there is more to this than even I understand right now. Maybe this book will help me explore it more.
Thank you for your work, Anna. It makes total sense to me that you are so deeply engaged with the grief process, and being with the people you are joining, that what you are experiencing is deeply fulfilling and not traumatizing to you.
Having lived in other countries and being of Latina parents iv always experienced grief differently than my white USA friends. It was never something to overcome or get past. In many ways grief - individual and collective- is a gift. To be in that space non judgmentally with self and others connects me to a deep longing that is obscured by my daily living. It reminds me to love deeply, to forgive, to honor life and greet it with open arms even when it hurts. Crying is so cleansing and I always know I’m in trouble if I can’t cry and access grief. Grief is not a solitary event. It is a river running through our humanity that cannot be ignored. Joanna Macy’s work was al says profound and as you say prophetic. I will honor her with my grief for the loss of the incarnation of a beautiful soul.
Thank you so much for this, Alicia. I love what you wrote: deep longing that is obscured by my daily living. I agree that the fear of grief is deeply connected to whiteness, and to the Enlightenment’s philosophical elevation of rationality over the “feminine”—feeling and the body’s wisdom. Grief is a gift, and it’s lovely to hear that you have such appreciation and ability to be with others while you grieve together.
I have only recently been introduced to Joanna Macy and her work, and am eager to dig deeper. But in this moment, I want to offer my appreciation for your work in writing this. I am a clergy person and I have been struggling to find the words to share with my congregation this morning after such a disheartening week. Opening up a space to acknowledge our grief and pain while maintaining "active hope" feels just right. We need to lament together.
Oh, Beth, thank you so much for sharing this with me. I hope that you and your congregation were able to mourn and express your grief together. Lamenting is the perfect word, especially, as you note, after so much violence was just codified into law.
I am often glad I am not one of the ones who was given a calling early in life. I know my calling now, and at 52 am dedicated to it for however much I am alive. But/and she seems to have carried it her whole life. Such a long, beautiful life. We are lucky to have been such a being with such steadfast wisdom and kindness to learn from.
I’m so happy to hear that you’ve found your calling, at whatever moment in your life. Yes, Joanna has been such a light, so clear for such a long time.
A lotus in full bloom. Joanna invited, welcomed, nurtured countless of us to a life of compassion for Mother Earth and all who dwelling upon her, leaving no room for pity or sympathy, only intimacy. 🙏
Joanna has been such a light in this world. She used to join us at the Insight Garden Program in San Quentin ti share her wisdom and humor with the men in our program. And the Great Turning was embedded in our curriculum. Blessed be this amazing human.
Thank you for writing this. I am not familiar with Joanna’s work but will be picking up her book now. As I read this, I thought yes, grief- that’s it. That is what I and so many are afraid of and collective grief, grieving together for where we are before acting, this feels like fertile ground for action to arise from love instead of anger.
Thank you for this, Priscilla. Yes, I think that sometimes—not always—grief can help people slow down and be less reactive or vengeful in their response to suffering. Some anger is beautiful and ethical; a form of love too. I hope we see more and more collective expressions of grief and that these connections and expressions of love move people to action.
Thank you for sharing this. I learned of Joanna and her work about three years ago through the Pachamama Alliance Game Changer Intensive. She promptly became one of my heroes in the deep ecology movement. Being in my early 70s at that time, she gave me hope that it’s never too late to make a difference. I’m saddened to learn of her entering hospice and yet know also it is part of the Great Turning she so eloquently spoke and wrote about.
You’re welcome, Brad. Im so happy to hear that Joanna gave you hope and I wholeheartedly agree that it’s never too late to make a difference. It sounds like you are doing a great deal of important work. Thank you for your efforts!
Reading this strikes a deep chord. Just a few weeks ago I did a podcast with my friend, the grief therapist Patrick OMalley, and our conversation focused on so many of the things you mentioned. We humans don’t know how to suffer. We don’t know how to be with someone who is suffering. We better learn quick. The fate of our civilization depends on it.
Thank you so much for this. I look forward to listening to the podcast. It’s agonizing to need things to happen fast, and to know how stubbornly slow the change process can be. But then there are times in history when the pressure intensifies, and people become astonishing, even to themselves. I believe that people know in their bodies and beings that something is deeply, pervasively, wrong. I hope that can fuel courage and curiosity and a willingness to push past the terror of what is and out, into the unknown.
A page before asked to share why I joined... here's why: Joanna. I'm too tired right now to read your words here, but I will when I can. My story about meeting Joanna will be different from everyone else. Some have known her far longer than I, others for just a short time. Our lives circumstances differ. Where we live. What we've done. All stories that arise and drift away. What unites us is a woman who is essential, is essence, whose life is Now, is Present, who reminds us all of who we truly are.
At Schumacher College, Totnes, England in 1994, Joanna taught a two week residential course on Deep Ecology. On one of those days, there was a public conference nearby at Dartington Hall on Deep Ecology that Joanna co-chaired with Arne Ness, the Norwegian who is given credit for establishing Deep Ecology as a philosophy.
Throughout the two hours, Ness “dominated” the discussion. Afterwards, back in class, Joanna muttered these words: “You all just witnessed how difficult it is for a woman to be recognised in a man’s world”.
Here in Tasmania where I live, I did my first three day “Council of all Beings” workshop with John Seed in 1998. He and Joanna created this very powerful, embodiment of Deep Ecology.
Years later, I organised a residential retreat here that Joanna led over five days. And, throughout the years, whenever I was passing through Berkeley on my way back to Tasmania, we would catch up for lunch or afternoon tea (for a tightly choreographed hour in her busy schedule) at her home on Cherry Street. Deep and meaningful conversations? No. We gossiped.
And, this is why I so admire Joanna. One of the most intellectual of people I have come across with a healthy ego sure of her mission, yet… graciously humble with a heart always wider than her brilliant mind.
Peter,
Wow. Thank you so much for these incredible reflections and stories. I had the good fortune to visit Darlington in May of 2024, so I can actually picture the Schumacher College building, which we drove past before walking the grounds of Darlington. To imagine you there, being with Joanna, taking that amazing course . . . how fantastic.
And how unsurprising that she was talked over. Ugh. I am happy that she said something to the class; happy to hear that she liked to gossip and trash talk as well as be fierce and intellectual when the two of you were together. I’m so glad you got to have such a wonderful relationship with her, and very grateful you took the time to tell me/us about it! Thank you for your wonderful continued work in the world.
Mahalo for your words Rebecca and Peter's response, both of which led me to reflect on my own Journey with Joanna. I first met her in Concord, MA in 1984 I believe. She and John Seed led a workshop including a Council for All Beings. The sharing and exercises we did were the first that really gave me a place to feel my own and others grief about the planet. I remember them and speak of them still, 40 years later! My awakening to Deep Ecology and the Dharma. Crazy impactful. About a decade later she led a weekend at Rowe Camp & Conference Center that I attended that introduced to me to Systems Theory and it's Buddhist connection to being a Shambhala Warrior. Even my mom, someone who never demonstrated in public but felt deeply about our Earth, flew to Utah to demonstrate against nuclear power because of Joanna. I still feel a connection to all her work - it touches my true feelings for our world. It has influenced the words I've spoken and environment I always tried to create at my own workshops and retreats. And best of all, like Peter said, she is a real person, a beautiful soul that can teach magnificently and also just be herself, another human in love with the world and all it is. May the rest of her Journey be blessed by all who love her and mirror back our gratitude for her and how she lived her life.
Beautiful !
Thank you for this, Ruth. It’s lovely.
Thank you. I plan on reading this book now. As a long time Hospice and Palliative care nurse, I have explored grief. People often ask how I can do this type of work. I respond that yes, it can be sad, but I am helping so I don’t feel profoundly sad as one might think. I am filled up by the helping, by the exploration of grief and being comfortable sitting with people while they go through it. I feel like there is more to this than even I understand right now. Maybe this book will help me explore it more.
Thank you for your work, Anna. It makes total sense to me that you are so deeply engaged with the grief process, and being with the people you are joining, that what you are experiencing is deeply fulfilling and not traumatizing to you.
Having lived in other countries and being of Latina parents iv always experienced grief differently than my white USA friends. It was never something to overcome or get past. In many ways grief - individual and collective- is a gift. To be in that space non judgmentally with self and others connects me to a deep longing that is obscured by my daily living. It reminds me to love deeply, to forgive, to honor life and greet it with open arms even when it hurts. Crying is so cleansing and I always know I’m in trouble if I can’t cry and access grief. Grief is not a solitary event. It is a river running through our humanity that cannot be ignored. Joanna Macy’s work was al says profound and as you say prophetic. I will honor her with my grief for the loss of the incarnation of a beautiful soul.
Thank you so much for this, Alicia. I love what you wrote: deep longing that is obscured by my daily living. I agree that the fear of grief is deeply connected to whiteness, and to the Enlightenment’s philosophical elevation of rationality over the “feminine”—feeling and the body’s wisdom. Grief is a gift, and it’s lovely to hear that you have such appreciation and ability to be with others while you grieve together.
I have only recently been introduced to Joanna Macy and her work, and am eager to dig deeper. But in this moment, I want to offer my appreciation for your work in writing this. I am a clergy person and I have been struggling to find the words to share with my congregation this morning after such a disheartening week. Opening up a space to acknowledge our grief and pain while maintaining "active hope" feels just right. We need to lament together.
Oh, Beth, thank you so much for sharing this with me. I hope that you and your congregation were able to mourn and express your grief together. Lamenting is the perfect word, especially, as you note, after so much violence was just codified into law.
I am often glad I am not one of the ones who was given a calling early in life. I know my calling now, and at 52 am dedicated to it for however much I am alive. But/and she seems to have carried it her whole life. Such a long, beautiful life. We are lucky to have been such a being with such steadfast wisdom and kindness to learn from.
I’m so happy to hear that you’ve found your calling, at whatever moment in your life. Yes, Joanna has been such a light, so clear for such a long time.
Joanna Macy is a great exemplary human being. Such a powerful, loving, wise woman.
Yes, such an incredible example.
Incredible piece! This is my introduction to Joanna Macy and I’m soooo grateful to know of her now. Thank you for this!
You’re very welcome!
Also my first introduction to her, similarly grateful. Thank you Rebecca
I adore Joanna Macy so much. Thank you for sharing her work.
With you, Rebecca. With you.
A lotus in full bloom. Joanna invited, welcomed, nurtured countless of us to a life of compassion for Mother Earth and all who dwelling upon her, leaving no room for pity or sympathy, only intimacy. 🙏
That’s fantastic: no room for pity or sympathy, only intimacy. Collapsing the distance that buffers us from feeling.
Joanna has been such a light in this world. She used to join us at the Insight Garden Program in San Quentin ti share her wisdom and humor with the men in our program. And the Great Turning was embedded in our curriculum. Blessed be this amazing human.
Thank you so much for telling me this, Beth. What a fantastic curriculum! Thank you for your work.
Thank you for writing this. I am not familiar with Joanna’s work but will be picking up her book now. As I read this, I thought yes, grief- that’s it. That is what I and so many are afraid of and collective grief, grieving together for where we are before acting, this feels like fertile ground for action to arise from love instead of anger.
Thank you for this, Priscilla. Yes, I think that sometimes—not always—grief can help people slow down and be less reactive or vengeful in their response to suffering. Some anger is beautiful and ethical; a form of love too. I hope we see more and more collective expressions of grief and that these connections and expressions of love move people to action.
Thank you for sharing this. I learned of Joanna and her work about three years ago through the Pachamama Alliance Game Changer Intensive. She promptly became one of my heroes in the deep ecology movement. Being in my early 70s at that time, she gave me hope that it’s never too late to make a difference. I’m saddened to learn of her entering hospice and yet know also it is part of the Great Turning she so eloquently spoke and wrote about.
You’re welcome, Brad. Im so happy to hear that Joanna gave you hope and I wholeheartedly agree that it’s never too late to make a difference. It sounds like you are doing a great deal of important work. Thank you for your efforts!
What a soul.
World as Lover, World as Self. A beautiful read from a beautiful soul.
Yes, that’s a really great one. Thank you for sharing that book.