With Thanks and in Remembrance of Joana Macy

Joana Macy has died at the age of 96. I found out this morning while browsing my RSS feeds and a post on Tricycle: The Buddhist Review.

Discovering Macy’s work around 25 years ago had a profound effect on me. She tied together for me my Buddhist practice and concern for the environmental crises, taking me into the world of Deep Ecology, a body of thought that was missing from my life, but started to tie up some loose ends and deepen my reflection.

I was fortunate to take a couple of workshops with Joana Macy, including a week long intensive on her body of work, The Work that Reconnects. This is also called Despair And Empowerment work as it allows you to acknowledge your despair for the world and have it witnessed, whatever that might look like (in a world that might poopoo such despair, disparaging your fear and despair as unnecessarily too emotional), and then transform that despair into empowerment as to some next steps that you can take.

Joana’s work introduced me to many other thinkers in the Deep Ecology movement, all whose thoughts and writings have enriched my life. I remember conversations with her fondly, and the power and passion with which she shared her thinking.

I’m grateful for crossing paths with Joana’s work and for what she brought to the world.