About the Book:
The challenges we face can be difficult even to think about.
Climate change, depleting global resources, economic upheaval, and mass
extinction together create a planetary emergency of overwhelming
proportions.
The book Active Hope: How to Face the Mess
We're in Without Going Crazy shows you how to strengthen your
capacity to face this crisis so that you can respond with unexpected
resilience and creative power.
Drawing on decades of teaching an
empowerment approach known as the Work That Reconnects, the authors
Joanna Macy and Chris
Johnstone guide you through a transformational process informed by
mythic journeys, modern psychology, spirituality, and holistic
science. This process equips you with tools to face the mess we're in
and play your role in the collective transition, or Great Turning, to
a life-sustaining society.
What people say:
"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,
Canadian author and social activist
"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,
American psychologist, wilderness rites guide, and ecotherapist
"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, American psychologist and
proponent of Buddhist meditation
"Active Hope is
a brilliant guide to sanity and love." — Roshi Joan
Halifax, American Buddhist teacher, anthropologist, and social
activist
"If you have despaired for our
world, and if you love life, Active Hope will be
for you an extraordinary blessing." — John Robbins,
American social activist, humanitarian, and author of the international bestseller Diet for a New
America
"Active
Hope is not just a book but a gateway to transformation."
— Jim Douglass, American theologian, peace activist, and
author of JFK and the Unspeakable
About the Author:
Joanna Macy is an American
scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep ecology. She is
also a leading voice in movements for peace, justice, and a safe
environment. Her wide-ranging work addresses psychological and
spiritual issues of the nuclear age, the cultivation of ecological
awareness, and the fruitful resonance between Buddhist thought and
contemporary science.
Chris Johnstone is a British
medical doctor, author, and coach who worked for nearly twenty years
as an addictions specialist in the UK National Health Service. A
former Senior Teaching Fellow at Bristol University Medical School,
he trains health professionals in behavioural medicine and runs
courses exploring the psychological dimensions of planetary crisis.