Quote: Joanna Macy; "All the world’s systems are interconnected; nothing exists in isolation."
“All the world’s systems are interconnected; nothing exists in isolation.” – Joanna Macy Source: World as Lover, World as Self (1991)
Joanna-Macy
Quote: Joanna Macy; "Despair and gratitude can coexist; embracing both expands our capacity to act."
“Despair and gratitude can coexist; embracing both expands our capacity to act.” – Joanna Macy Source: Despair and Personal Power in the Nuclear Age (1983)
Quote: Joanna Macy; "Grace happens when we act with others on behalf of our world."
“Grace happens when we act with others on behalf of our world.” – Joanna Macy Source: Journey On in Peace (Crossing the Boundary)
Quote: Joanna Macy; "If the world is to be healed through human efforts, I am convinced it will be by ordinary people..."
“If the world is to be healed through human efforts, I am convinced it will be by ordinary people…” – Joanna Macy Source: Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re in Without …
Quote: Joanna Macy; "It is my experience that the world itself has a role to play in our liberation..."
“It is my experience that the world itself has a role to play in our liberation…” – Joanna Macy Source: On Being with our World (One Earth Sangha)
Quote: Joanna Macy; "The heart that breaks open can contain the whole universe."
“The heart that breaks open can contain the whole universe.” – Joanna Macy Source: Despair and Personal Power in the Nuclear Age (1983)
Quote: Joanna Macy; "The sorrow, grief, and rage you feel is a measure of your humanity and your evolutionary maturity..."
“The sorrow, grief, and rage you feel is a measure of your humanity and your evolutionary maturity…” – Joanna Macy Source: Greening of the Self (2013)
Quote: Joanna Macy; "The work that reconnects helps us transform despair into constructive action."
“The work that reconnects helps us transform despair into constructive action.” – Joanna Macy Source: Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re in Without Going Crazy (with Chris …
Quote: Joanna Macy; "We are our world knowing itself. We can relinquish our separateness..."
“We are our world knowing itself. We can relinquish our separateness…” – Joanna Macy Source: World as Lover, World as Self (1991)
Quote: Joanna Macy; "When you look at what is happening to our world and it is hard to look at whats happening..."
“When you look at what is happening to our world-and it is hard to look at what’s happening to our water, our air, our trees, our fellow species-it becomes clear that unless you have some …
In Memoriam: Joanna Macy (1929-2025)
It is with great sadness that we acknowledge the passing of philosopher, mentor, teacher, activist and visionary, Joanna Macy. Joanna died peacefully at her home in Berkeley on July 19, 2025, at age …
Profile: Joanna Macy
Joanna Macy (1929-2025) was a scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep ecology. Born in Los Angeles, she earned her PhD and spent five decades developing the Work That Reconnects, a …
Quote: Joanna Macy; "All life is interdependent; we cannot survive without the web of relationships that sustain us."
“All life is interdependent; we cannot survive without the web of relationships that sustain us.” – Joanna Macy Source: Coming Back to Life, 1998
Quote: Joanna Macy; "Hope is not a lottery ticket you can sit on the sofa and clutch, feeling lucky. It is an active engagement."
“Hope is not a lottery ticket you can sit on the sofa and clutch, feeling lucky. It is an active engagement.” – Joanna Macy Source: Active Hope, 2007
Quote: Joanna Macy; "of all the dangers we face..."
“Of all the dangers we face, from climate chaos to nuclear war, none is so great as the deadening of our response.” - Joanna Macy —
Quote: Joanna Macy; "The more we open our hearts to the pain of the world, the more we are able to act effectively."
“The more we open our hearts to the pain of the world, the more we are able to act effectively.” – Joanna Macy Source: The Work That Reconnects, 1998
Quote: Joanna Macy; "We dont have to surrender our individuality to be part of a collective movement."
“We don’t have to surrender our individuality to be part of a collective movement.” – Joanna Macy Source: Active Hope, 2007
Quote: Joanna Macy; "When we face our fears, we discover hidden strengths we never knew we had."
“When we face our fears, we discover hidden strengths we never knew we had.” – Joanna Macy Source: The Work That Reconnects, 1998
For the healing of ourselves and the world, we need to be able to stay open
“For the healing of ourselves and the world, we need to be able to stay open, to be present to our world and other beings, and all that it is going through. This is a great necessity, a great …
Book: “World As Lover, World as Self”, by Joanna Macy
“An enduring classic of the environmental movement, Joanna Macy’s poetic, groundbreaking call to action is poised to inspire a new generation“ …
The Development of the Deep Ecology Process
Our Philosophy page describes Arne Naess’s call for “therapies which heal our relations with the widest community, that of all living beings”, and notes that the processes answering …
Practice: Breathing Through
Joanna Macy offers the following practice as part of the preparatory work for the “Honouring our Pain for the world” component of The Work That Reconnects. See also her own 2005 training video of this …
Book: “Active Hope: how to face the mess we’re in without going crazy” by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone
The challenges we face can be difficult to even think about. Climate change, pandemic uncertainty, extreme inequality, economic upheaval, and mass extinction together create a planetary emergency of …
Despair and Empowerment: Joanna Macy's Foundational Work
Everything ported into the “Honouring Our Pain for the World” section of this site — the Truth Mandala, the Mourning — has one direct ancestor: Joanna Macy’s Despair and Empowerment …
Three Stories of Our Time
Rather than offering its own analysis of causes and solutions for the crises of our time, the Work That Reconnects invites us to take a fresh look at what we see happening around us. The model of …
Corbett Process - Strengthening Our Intentions
From Coming Back to Life by Joanna Macy & Molly Brown (2nd ed., 2014, Chapter 10). Full instructions and further resources at the Work That Reconnects Network — the primary home for Joanna’s …
Gratitude as a Revolutionary Act (training video)
Gratitude as a Revolutionary Act (Joanna Macy, 2006) is a training video made as a companion to Coming Back to Life, for facilitators — both those new to this work and those more experienced — wanting …
Coming from Gratitude: Teaching Points
Paraphrased summary of Chapter 6 of Coming Back to Life (Joanna Macy & Molly Brown, 2nd ed., 2014). Full teaching points at the Work That Reconnects Network — the primary home for Joanna’s …
Breathing With Trees
Breathing With Trees asks a simple thing: sit or stand with a plant, and breathe deliberately, attending to the literal exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide passing between you. In a workshop flow, …
Book: Thinking Like a Mountain-HTML version
This post holds an HTML version of the text of the book “Thinking Like A Mountain – Towards a Council of All Beings”. Published in 1988, this seminal text by John Seed, Joanna Macy, Arne Naess and …
The Shambhala Warriors — A Prophecy
From World as Lover, World as Self (Joanna Macy, Parallax Press, 1991). For more of Joanna’s own telling and context, see the Work That Reconnects Network’s page on this prophecy — the …
The Council of All Beings
By Joanna Macy, Ph.D. Written for The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature. Full source page: rainforestinfo.org.au/deep-eco/Joanna Macy.htm. The Council of All Beings is a communal ritual in which …
Breathing Through (training video)
This is Joanna Macy’s own version of tonglen, the Tibetan Buddhist practice of breathing in suffering and breathing out ease. In her written instructions for it, she describes the exercise as …
The Truth Mandala
Joanna Macy’s Truth Mandala, reproduced from Coming Back to Life (Macy & Brown, 1998). The dominant “Honouring Our Pain for the World” practice in current use — see also The …
John Seed's Introductions to the Council of All Beings Workshop (full transcripts)
Transcribed by Chris Lehman from the Council of All Beings workshop at Northern Pines Lodge, Maine, USA, 24–25 October 1992, and reproduced here as the numbered sequence in which John gives them over …
The Cairn of Mourning
A facilitation note by John Seed, drawing directly on Joanna Macy’s Despair and Empowerment work. These days the Truth Mandala, is usually used, but the Carin of Mourning can be a useful …
Book: Thinking Like a Mountain - PDF
Below you will find an embedded PDF version of the seminal book by John Seed, Joanna Macy, Pat Fleming and Arne Naess which gave rise to the “Council of All Beings” group work, later referred to as …
Gaia Meditations
Excerpt from the book “Thinking Like a Mountain – Towards a Council of All Beings” for the full text visit: Book: “Thinking like a Mountain “html version by: John Seed and Joanna Macy What …