Active Hope for Turbulent Times

THE INVITATION

To join a series of five reflective yet playful online sessions developing a sense of how we are, what is stirring us, and what is wishing to emerge through us in these turbulent times.

THE PRACTICALITIES

ATTENDANCE: Ideally attending all five sessions offers the richest experience for you and others, though you are welcome to sign up for whatever works for you. Sessions will be held on Zoom, joiing details will be sent the day before the session. Please arrive on time committed to stay for the full 1.5hrs.

There are 12 spaces available for each session. To be fair to others please only sign up to sessions you know you can make.

GIFT ECONOMY: We are all in very different financial circumstances at this time. In recognition of this, and with a desire for inclusivity, these sessions are offered as a gift in service of life. Should you wish and feel able to gift a donation this is also most welcome, further enabling this work to continue rippling outward.

THE CONTEXT

During this global pandemic a number of differing stories have come to the fore as to how we make sense of this time.

Should we live by the 'Business as Usual' story, pushing to 'get back to normal' and continue with an economic growth = prosperity, consumption = happiness narrative? Or should we see this time as 'The Great Unraveling'? An evidence backed story narrated by scientists, campaigners, NGOs and concerned citizens detailing how the fabric of our society, the economy, and the living world are crumbling into chaos?

What if there were another story, lived by those who see the damage of the first and refuse to let the second have the last say? A narrative of transformative change happening in communities, businesses, governments and within each of us....The Great Turning? What would such a turning feel like, look like, be motivated by?

It is this third story that calls for our Active Hope in these turbulent times, becoming active participants in what we hope for, what we dream of.

To empower us, to nourish our Active Hope, we must allow ourselves time to process our deeper responses to this time. Feelings of gratitude, of suffering, solidarity and confusion..... It also calls for us to seek new perspectives in order to hone our intentions. For this we turn to The Work that Reconnects, a simple yet powerful process, or spiral, developed and honed over many decades by Joanna Macy and collaborators through work with communities all around the world.

THE SESSIONS

Each week the 1.5hr session will involve landing together through a check-in and simple body grounding, then a guided journey through a short spiral of The Work that Reconnects involving paired/small group discussion, deep listening practices, guided meditations and whole group activities. Each weeks spiral will have a different emphasis:

Week 1 - becoming acquainted with The Work that Reconnects

Week 2 - nourishing ourselves through gratitude

Week 3 - holding space for our deep emotions that may arise when we look at the state of our world

Week 4 - exploring different perspectives on self, other & the world

Week 5 - setting intentions

After these initial 5 sessions we can review together how we wish to proceed.

THE FACILITATORS

Tom Deacon will hold the shape of each weeks session, supported by different co-facilitators each week who will bring their own gifts and experience.

Tom draws deeply on his sense of connection with nature and community, with a passion for roaming solo, with friends and leading groups in the wilder areas of the UK. He has a background in environmental education, sustainability leadership and transformative change work. Active Hope has been threaded through his work for many years, and he's been facilitating Work that Reconnects workshops, retreats and more recently online sessions throughout the past 6 years.