|
|
|
|
Dear People of the Work That Reconnects (<<First Name>>),
I know many of you hoped to hear from me sooner, and I have been trying to write. I labored over three letters and tossed each of them, because they did not begin to do justice to the situation we’re in. They sounded either hysterical or flat.
I’ve been asking myself: How can I be honest and not spread fear? How do I say “game over” when we mustn’t give up?
Maybe the game that’s over is the pretense of normalcy. Maybe what’s over is the delusion that with millions of souls already in prison, with millions of undocumented already deported, with over half of America already in poverty, the rest of us can stay so preoccupied with our personal pursuits. Perhaps what’s finished is the fantasy that we can find ourselves without taking our suffering seriously.
Now, a triumphant Trump brings into the spotlight at stage center those who have been waiting in the wings: the lords of coal and oil, the masters of surveillance, the white supremacists, the war-ready generals, those eager to rule the bodies of women.
So it is good that we reach for each other, find our strength and our sanity in each other. It is good that the churches are filling again, and places of worship choose to be sanctuaries for the hated and hunted.
I rejoice that many of you are gathering people together in your own communities, schools, and workplaces, so they can share their thoughts and feelings. Some of you are inviting people to talk and hear each other; some of you are offering processes from the Work That Reconnects, such as Open Sentences and Breathing Through and the Truth Mandala. This is not only rewarding, it’s essential. For isolation and fear reinforce each other.
For myself, I turned yesterday to the Brahmaviharas or Four Abodes of the Buddha (loving kindness, compassion, joy in the joy of others, and equanimity), which we practice interactively in workshops as “Learning to See Each Other.” I was experiencing another wave of fear, and in the midst of it I recalled the many times I heard myself say: “See, in the actual experience of these four abodes, there is no room for fear.”
That recollection helped me—and so did what happened with my eye doctor when I mentioned that wave of fear which I was still feeling in my body. For the first time in the years he’s been treating me, Dr. L. stopped what he was doing, pushed the door closed, and began speaking of himself and his life. He conveyed the impact of Trump’s election on an American with Chinese parents, the stress on his wife who couldn’t eat for days, their children’s confusion and upset. His friend, an American-born ethnic Chinese practicing medicine at the VA Hospital, was verbally attacked at the corner store for being a “Chink” who doesn’t belong in our country.
Once again I experienced it: how, when we open together to the suffering around us, we become more real to each other. Even in the midst of grief and fear, we are not alone. The mystery at the core of our existence is that simple: we are held in a web of mutual belonging.
Because the world needs us right now to practice our values and step into our power, it’s good to make a list of priorities. Here are some ingredients drawn from my own list:
- Meet weekly with a committed group to look deeply at what’s going on and share responses.
- Join efforts to protect people who are targeted for harassment, arrest and deportation.
- Amp up support for movements opposing global warming and nuclear weapons, including support for the epochal resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock.
- Read (preferably with others) books on creative mass nonviolence, such as Why Civil Resistance Works by Chenoweth and Stephan.
- Stay steady and faithful in your vows and your meditation practice.
- Share the Work That Reconnects!
Since this letter is accompanied by one from Anne Symens-Bucher, I would like to close by sharing a communication I made three months ago. Addressing a group of facilitators who were meeting to focus on the WTR Network, I wrote:
“Since I never created an organization for the Work That Reconnects, and chose to offer its theory and practices as a give-away and Open Source, I have no formal office to retire from, or pass on to a successor. But there is a person I do want to name now as one whose experience and vision I would ask you all to use and trust. Anne has known the work for 32 years, and has assisted me on a daily basis and in many locations for almost 11 years. No one, other than I, is more familiar with its global spread and cast of characters. I have come to believe that Anne's intuitive sense of best strategies for a coherent, bureaucracy-free organization is better than my own, and that our expanding network would be well served if she were seen as my “successor,” and consulted for her canny suggestions. What this will mean in practice is still unclear and will be sure to unfold, as emergent properties do!”
The next issue of Deep Times, the journal of our WTR community, is out on-line. Don’t miss its invigorating wealth of news and reflections from our brothers and sisters near and far. Stay tuned for a Letter from the Editors and stay connected!
In grateful love and solidarity,
Joanna
__________________________________________
Dear friends in the Work That Reconnects,
It has been a great privilege to support Joanna in these last 11 years, first mostly in an administrative capacity, and eventually as a colleague in the Work. When I first began as her personal assistant in January of 2006, she informed me I would be helping her to slow down. I had no reason back then to think that would not be the case for almost 11 years! In the last few months, many of you have received our email auto-responder, which indicates that Joanna is not available for interviews, endorsements, webinars and the like. While this was not an easy decision for her, it has proven to be a sound one. It frees Joanna to focus her attention and energy on sharing the Work That Reconnects. It is clear this is where her greatest and most needed contribution lies, so we thank all of you for your understanding and encouragement of this decision.
Many of you have reached out to Joanna since the election. Your messages of love and support are always so welcome. We are grateful to hear about those of you whose response has been to offer the Work. We appreciate being reminded how much the Work That Reconnects means to you, nourishes you, sustains you in the Great Unraveling. Your requests for guidance, along with your expressions of action and appreciation, provided a fertile container for our reflection and planning over these last two weeks.
Thus, I am grateful to let you know about our plans for December forward, and hope that many of you will be able to join us along the way. Below are some of the highlights from the events we currently have planned. Please check Joanna’s website calendar for more details: http://www.joannamacy.net/joannateachingcalendar.html
Partial Teaching Schedule
December 8, 2016: Special Open Sangha for These Times, 7:15 – 9:15PM, Berkeley, CA
January 13 – 15, 2017, The Work That Reconnects in the Time of Challenge: An Introduction, Ghost Ranch, NM
https://www.ghostranch.org/retreat/the-work-that-reconnects-in-a-time-of-great-challenge-an-introduction-g17s131/
January 15 – 20, 2017 “In the Dark, the Eyes Learn to See” Ghost Ranch, NM (previous experience in the Work That Reconnects is required) https://www.ghostranch.org/retreat/in-the-dark-the-eye-learns-to-see-g17s141/
March 9 – 12, 2017 Discovering the Power of the Work That Reconnects in this Time of Challenge, Nalanda West, Naropa Campus, Boulder, CO
April 7 – 9, 2017 Work that Reconnects, Canticle Farm, Oakland, CA
May 22 – 28, 2017 Reclaiming the Wisdom of the Mother of All Buddhas: A Women’s Retreat, Angela Center, Santa Rosa, CA
June 9 – 19, 2017 Ten-day Intensive in the Work That Reconnects, Occidental, CA
October 10 – 19, 2017 Ten-day Intensive in the Work That Reconnects, River’s Bend, CA
I am also delighted to inform you that 2017 will see the creation of two new Joanna Macy Centers. Canticle Farm in Oakland, California, and Rowe Camp and Conference Center in Rowe, Massachusetts will join Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado in honoring Joanna and ensuring the Work That Reconnects continues through these unique and diverse centers.
If I can be of service to your efforts with the Work That Reconnects, please do not hesitate to contact me.
In love and gratitude,
Anne
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
