Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We're in without Going Crazy - Softcover

Joanna Macy; Chris Johnstone

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1577319729 ISBN 13: 9781577319726

Publisher: New World Library, 2012

Synopsis

Active Hope is about finding, and offering, our best response to the crisis of sustainability unfolding in our world. It starts by accepting that the challenges we face can be difficult even to look at: climate change, the depletion of oil, economic reversals and the die-back of our natural world act together to create a planetary emergency of overwhelming proportions. The book offers an approach that strengthens our capacity to face disturbing information and respond with unexpected resilience and creative power. Drawing on decades of experience running workshops in an empowerment approach widely known as The Work That Reconnects, the authors guide the reader through a transformational process informed by mythic journeys, modern psychology, holistic science and spiritual perspectives. This process equips readers with tools to help them face the mess we re in and find and play their role in the collective transition, or Great Turning, to a life-sustaining society. At the heart of this book is the idea that Active Hope is a gift that is not only given but also received. The journey of finding, and offering, our gift of contribution helps us to discover new strengths, open to a wider network of allies and experience a deepening of our aliveness. When our responses are guided by the intention to act for healing of our world, the mess we re in not only becomes easier to face, our lives also become more meaningful and satisfying

About this title

Review:

"Books about social and ecological change too often leave out a vital component: how do we change ourselves so that we are strong enough to fully contribute to this great shift? Active Hope fills this gap beautifully, guiding readers on a journey of gratitude, grief, interconnection, and, ultimately, transformation."
-- Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine

"To the future beings of the twenty-second century, Active Hope might turn out to be the most important book written in the twenty-first."
-- Bill Plotkin, author of Soulcraft and Nature and the Human Soul

"More than any book I've read, Active Hope shows us the true dimensions of this crisis, and the way our heart and actions can be part of the great turning toward healing. Please read this book and share it with others -- for your own awakening, for our children, and for our future."
-- Tara Brach, PhD, author of Radical Acceptance

"Active Hope is a brilliant guide to sanity and love."
-- Roshi Joan Halifax, abbot of the Upaya Zen Center

"If you have despaired for our world, and if you love life, Active Hope will be for you an extraordinary blessing."
-- John Robbins, author of Diet for a New America and The Food Revolution

"Active Hope is not just a book but a gateway to transformation."
-- Jim Douglass, author of JFK and the Unspeakable

About the Author:

Ecophilosopher Joanna Macy, PhD, is a scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep ecology. A respected voice in movements for peace, justice, and the environment, she interweaves her scholarship with five decades of activism. Physician and coach Dr. Chris Johnstone is a specialist in the psychology of resilience, happiness, and positive change.

About this edition

• Publisher: New World Library
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1577319729
• ISBN 13: 9781577319726
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256