From Living the New Story – Series 2 and Joanna Macy

Joanna Macy PhD, is a scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep ecology. A respected voice in the movements for peace, justice, and ecology, she interweaves her scholarship with five decades of activism. The author of World as Lover, World as Self, Active Hope and ten other books, she is the root teacher of the Work That Reconnects, a ground-breaking theoretical framework and workshop methodology for personal and social change. Joanna is also a Fellow of the Findhorn Foundation

1. Joanna emphasises the great jewel of choice – that we can choose the story. Consider the story you have chosen to align with in your life (whether consciously or unconsciously). Do you choose to live in the story of business as usual; or in the great unraveling; or the great turning? How do you experience the world within and around you in light of that story? What are the values, beliefs and assumptions that underpin that story?

2. Which of the following dimensions of the Great Turning do you experience most in your life and local community and how do they support one another: holding actions or embodying and practicing new ways of being? When you roll up your sleeves, as Joanna suggests, how do you experience these actions and practices in relationship to others with whom you are working?

3. As we act for the living Earth, we are met in a dance of reciprocity – the Great Reciprocity – that is at the heart of the Universe. This experience of reciprocity may arise in a multitude of ways, for example, through art, poetry and music, as well as through science or spiritual contemplation. How have you experienced this dance in your own life?

4. What resources support you to fully experience your grief and honour your pain for our world? What are the obstacles to opening to, expressing and sharing your grief? What is a small step you may take to access your grief in a way that is supported by others and opens you to also fully experience the other side of grief – the full measure of your love?

5. The Great Turning requires a shift in our perception of reality, both as a cognitive revolution and a spiritual awakening. What shifts have you noticed in your own consciousness up to this point in our journey? From where have they arisen and how have they affected your reality?

6. What does it mean for you to ‘act your real age’ and speak with the authority of your 4 billion years? To move through life honouring the ancient lineage of which you are a part? How might this awareness infuse your daily life?

7. Recall a time when you have had a felt sense of ‘falling in love with life’ – accepting what is, including all parts of yourself. What did that feel like and how did it affect your experience of your inner and outer landscape as well as your own presence in the world in relationship to other sentient beings? How can you cultivate more of this experience?