In this hour-long tribute to "The Work the Reconnects," Pat van Boeckel explores the stories of activists who have used Joanna Macy’s writings to enhance and support their service and their lives. Van Boeckel does not flinch in describing the devastation now facing the world or equivocate on the justification for despair. Despite the trauma inflicted on the earth and ourselves, she gently leads us through Macy’s words and toward embracing hope.

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  • Claire Coveney

    Well thank you. I take heart from this. It is encouraging to hear the wisdom and actions. Courage is necessary as fear can take over and horror at such suffering of wildlife. Manjushri prayer and mantra is one I am drawn to so felt connected to this too . All over the world we are trying. Living with those paradoxes was well discusses. Finding our way through this for the sake of all sentient beings is explained well. Tashi delek. Nga mihi nui from Aotearoa New Zealand

  • rawshark

    Thanks so much, it‘s such a shame i didn‘t know the teachings of Joanna Macy before. I feel very blessed now ... learned a way to handle the pain, honor it! Pat does a great job of leading into the value of this insight, in first showing us what the feeling is to be aware of the state if the world we live in and giving a possible solution to handle it. Great Work!

  • Folami Harris

    The hope it managed to convey despite the dire state of thworld.

  • sharon

    I was so inspired by Joanna Macy and her work, that I found a workshop in the San Francisco area that was taught by a student of hers, Lydia. There were at least 30 people there, most young, in 20's or early 30's in age. 3 or 4 elders, like myself also sat on the floor in the circle. The Center itself was beautiful and welcoming. The leader of the workshop, Lydia, was a young singer/songwriter who impressed me with her ability to perform music and perform dance moves and beautiful gyrations associated with her Iranian heritage, I think. She was great at keeping the attention of the audience and directing certain pre-planned and well choreographed activities. I could tell she loved performing and loved an audience. Sadly, for all of us, Lydia was barely scratching the surface of a subject she only knew in a superficial way due to her own age. Her inability to truly know how to foster reconnection on a soul level was evident when I offered things that her workshop agenda inspired in me and it was glossed over and not acknowledged. I could not understand the language spoken for one thing, as young people have their own way of communicating which escaped me as an elder. I realized suddenly, when I was told that "how I think and how I was feeling was irrelevant to the content planned for the workshop," that I have entered a new chapter of life. I realized suddenly in a moment of total embarrassment at being thoroughly and completely silenced by Lydia, that I was experiencing a type of "disconnect," which I learned about briefly in my youth as a "generation gap." This sudden awakening along with all of the other parts of my life right now, that disconnect me from "hope" was overwhelming and made me feel more disconnected then I did before I arrived at the workshop with the title "The work that Reconnects." It was too much on top of all the ways I already feel disconnected, so my partner and I went to lunch and never returned. Instead we walked to Haight-Ashberry where most of our youth took on great significance. Where we too were activists and young and seeking, open and vulnerable but connected to a huge LovePeace movement that began the Age of Aquarius and "reconnected" me to our roots. It turned out to be a good day after all.

  • Michael Stilinovich

    Diane, Bless you Dear One...."Faith"....

  • Sachi

    Just what I needed to see today ! thank you !

  • Martina N

    "Do it because you love the people at your side." Solidarity and community is the healing answer. Alone we don't count for so much, but together we become a force to be able to make real changes.

  • Diane Nilan

    As a filmmaker and activist on the issue of family/youth homelessness, I struggle with the overwhelming sense of hopelessness. Watching this film renews me. There are more of us than we think--good people doing good work for good reasons. Thanks for this wonderful refreshment!

  • Gabriel Evangelista

    Thank you so much for sharing this amazing and inspiring piece of work. It seems that many of us are looking for some "Work that Reconnects"(maybe without calling it that way). And this short movie portrays not only the incredible woman who is lighting the way of lots of activists; but the activists themselves— along with their courage, their doubts, their pain, their stories, their motivation, and their love. That is something I can deeply relate to. Thanks a lot.

  • Diane

    Nothing! I feel even more depressed and worried about the environment now and can also see that this is possibly the unconscious cause of so much depression that people are experiencing today ...this film reinforces the fact that the few (comparatively)who ARE concerned enough to change their lives to stop the disastrous trajectory of Earth just are not the majority!

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  • Watch featured artist Chris Jordan’s loving tribute to the birds of Midway Island, ALBATROSS. 
  • Join others seeking to uncover and experience their innate connections with each other and the web of life by attending one of many on-line, in-person Work that Reconnects events. 
  • Read through the list at myplasticfreelife.com. Choose one or two steps to get started, for example carry a canvas reusable shopping bag or choose plastic free chewing gum.

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