An Introduction to THE WORK THAT RECONNECTS
“Our purpose here is to explore our inner responses to the condition of the world and prepare to take part in its healing.”
—Joanna Macy
Karina Lutz will offer an introduction to the “Work that Reconnects,” a sequence of group exercises to remedy burnout and revive our energies to work toward restoring the world. The work helps us face, feel, and make sense of our environmental and social crises. We can be with our anger, fear, emptiness, or sadness about the state of the world, to reframe our view of life in terms of flows and systems (instead of competing individuals). From that new perspective, it becomes clearer how we might leverage systems change.
We’ll work to reclaim the energy for action that is thwarted when we deny our emotional responses to the crises. Our responses may feel difficult, at first, but as we face them in a group of mutual support, with a compassion-enhancing breathing practice, we realize how natural, healthy, and motivating these “difficult” emotions can be. We plumb these depths to reclaim and nurture the love, courage, passion for justice, and wisdom within them.
This refreshes us to move back into our callings towards environmental and social justice and healing. Burnout is endemic to social and environmental justice advocates as unstable social systems worldwide lose credibility, effectiveness, or their veneer of sanity. We can look at it as “the Great Unraveling”—that systems are collapsing. Or we can see that unsustainable systems must change, and some unraveling is necessary for the scale of change we need. To move towards a healthy, peaceful, and life-sustaining culture will require transformation of our social systems and structures. This “Great Turning” also requires shifting our awareness: to see in systems—how life flows and relates—and to reconnect with life itself.
AN In-person Workshop HOSTED BY HANNAH HARVESTER
Sat., Jan. 28, 2023
1:30 pm – 3:30 pm
If you plan to attend:
Please test for Covid on the day of the event. I’ll provide additional tests but please come at least 20 minutes early if you plan to test here. The workshop is mask-optional.
The workshop was held in Conway, Mass.
Facilitator: Karina Lutz
REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Registration is free. Please register here:
More Info
Learn more about the process at www.workthatreconnects.org and www.joannamacy.net.
THE WORK THAT RECONNECTS, In Person!
“Our purpose here is to explore our inner responses to the condition of the world and prepare to take part in its healing.”
—Joanna Macy
Update: The site is wheelchair accessible inside and outdoors. Enter through the Lower College Road entrance.
Please note these group guidelines:
- Commit to the whole workshop, arrive on time and stay to the end. Latecomers will be admitted at the facilitator’s discretion. Each person is important to the community and each part of this experiential workshop builds on the previous one, and leaving without processing and resolving what comes up may be counterproductive.
- Bring your curiosity, and be willing to try things on.
- Bring your presence and attention.
- Be kind to yourself and everyone else. We are all in this together.
- Take care of your own needs: take breaks, stand, move, hydrate, snack, etc. as you need.
- Respect confidentiality outside and within the group. You’re welcome to speak about your own experience but not that of others.
Karina Lutz and Anne Goodwin will offer a “Work that Reconnects” workshop of group exercises to remedy burnout and revive our energies to work toward restoring the world. The work helps us face, feel, and make sense of our environmental and social crises. The workshop helps us face our anger, fear, emptiness, or sadness about the state of the world, to reframe our view of life in terms of flows and systems (instead of competing individuals). From that new perspective, it becomes clearer how we might leverage systems change.
We’ll work to reclaim the energy for action that is thwarted when we deny our emotional responses to the crises. Our responses may feel difficult, at first, but as we face them in a group of mutual support, with a compassion-enhancing breathing practice, we realize how natural, healthy, and motivating these “difficult” emotions can be. We plumb these depths to reclaim and nurture the love, courage, passion for justice, and wisdom within them.
This refreshes us to move back into our callings towards environmental and social justice and healing. Burnout is endemic to social and environmental justice advocates as unstable social systems worldwide lose credibility, effectiveness, or their veneer of sanity. We can look at it as “the Great Unraveling”—that systems are collapsing. Or we can see that unsustainable systems must change, and some unraveling is necessary for the scale of change we need. To move towards a healthy, peaceful, and life-sustaining culture will require transformation of our social systems and structures. This “Great Turning” also requires shifting our awareness: to see in systems—how life flows and relates—and to reconnect with life itself.
A full-Day Workshop sponsored by RI Interfaith power & Light
Sat., Aug. 27, 2022
9 am-4 pm
35 Lower College Rd., Kingston, RI
St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church
REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Registration is free. Please register here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScch88aNfHvtzzcFK1NXgUxRhDCi-Aa44OUc_5IIJdQ5J-tMQ/viewform
COVID precautions
We will be masking while indoors, and it will be optional outdoors. We assume that all participants will be vaccinated, but if you have any symptoms of illness or have been exposed to Covid, we ask you not to attend.
WHAT TO EXPECT
This workshop will follow the “Work That Reconnects” method developed by Joanna Macy, Molly Young Brown, Constance Washburn, and colleagues:
- Starting with gratitude for living in earth and all who are working for justice, healing, and regeneration,
- we’ll move into honoring our pain for the state of the world,
- then look at the world through a holistic, systems-based and life-affirming paradigm,
- and finally end with exercises to help us go forth into the world with renewed passion, clarity, and a sense of ‘power with’–instead of the prevailing ‘power over.’
The presenters are:
Karina Lutz is a workshop leader and poet. She was founding board chair and then Deputy Director of People’s Power & Light. Now called Green Energy Consumers’ Alliance, its mission is to make energy affordable and environmentally sustainable in RI and Massachusetts. She was instrumental in passage of sustainable energy legislation in Rhode Island and in thwarting a proposed megaport in Narragansett Bay. She offers Work That Reconnects workshops in the Connecticut River and Narragansett Bay watersheds (New England).
Anne Goodwin is a Boston based activist, musician and artist. She has worked directly with Joanna Macy and has led many workshops in the Work That Reconnects for churches, activist groups, and others around New England. She particularly delights in incorporating songs, visual art, and movement into her facilitation. She works as a grassroots organizer with Mothers Out Front, a national climate action movement.
More Info
Learn more about the process at www.workthatreconnects.org and www.joannamacy.net and about SpiralEcology here at karinalutz.wordpress.com/spiralecology-workshops/
BRING WITH YOU
Bag Lunch
Layers for indoors and outdoors
Sunscreen/Bug repellent/Hat
Water bottle
Curiosity
A clean mask
***Let us know ahead of any accessibility accommodations needed for you to fully participate.***
poetry for The Great Turning 