I came across this article on Facebook, shared by Linne 🙂 Thanks Linne, I really enjoyed it and felt it might be of interest to some readers here who I know struggle with feelings of frustration and anger at issues that affect our times and our environment.
An excerpt from World as Lover, World as Self, Joanna Macy, 1991.
“Why do I claim that this erodes the old sense of self? Because once we stop denying the crises of our time and let ourselves experience the depth of our own responses to the pain of our world whether it is the burning of the Amazon rainforest, the famines of Africa, or the homeless in our own cities the grief or anger or fear we experience cannot be reduced to concerns for our own individual skin.
We are capable of suffering with our world, and that is the true meaning of compassion. It enables us to recognize our profound interconnectedness with all beings. Don’t ever apologize for crying for the trees burning in the Amazon or over the waters polluted from mines in the Rockies. Don’t apologize for the sorrow, grief, and rage you feel. It is a measure of your humanity and your maturity. It is a measure of your open heart, and as your heart breaks open there will be room for the world to heal. That is what is happening as we see people honestly confronting the sorrows of our time. And it is an adaptive response”
For the full article, which is only one page, read here. This is also a link for Films For Change which has some really interesting stuff on it.
quarteracrelifestyle 
These are indeed words that accurately convey our experiences Wendy! Thanks for sharing that this morning when my heart sits heavy in the face of the monumental ignorance the majority of the people of this country have just exhibited. Even I, the eternal optimist, must now accept that it will get much worse before the tipping point is achieved.
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Hi Pauline. Yep, a disappointing result 😦 but I did expect it. Hoped for far better but…….! I know so many who didn’t even bother voting because they” knew” what the outcome would be and it would be a waste of time, completely oblivious of the fact they contribute to making it so.
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I was thinking that 10% was pretty good for the Greens, until I looked up the 2011 results and saw that they had 11.1% last time . . . not so hopeful, then. Wendy, we have the same situation here, where young people don’t think their votes matter, so just don’t bother. I’ve tried for years telling them if they can’t find a candidate to vote FOR, then for pete’s sake, get out and vote AGAINST! Even a spoilt ballot, or one with, say, ‘green party’ written in, will be taken notice of. I think I’ve only missed one election since I began voting,, unless I lived too remotely to be able to get to the polls easily. I don’t know what your NP is like, but it’s likely good that the Conservatives aren’t in . . . wish that were true here, as the reigning PC party has eroded so much of this country and are now busy selling bits off to China, with protection for the Chinese, but not for us. It’s really scary, although, of course, the environmental crises that are coming will trump all this politicking about . . . At this point, I could almost welcome some earthly upheavals, even though I know it’s going to be pretty bad for most of us . . . I will never understand why the Greens get so little support . . .
Well, all that aside, I’m glad you found the re-blog interesting. I always hope someone will, when I re-post stuff like that. I’ve been re-posting many of the Films For Action posts on FB, too. (hoping to jog the thinking of some of my online friends and family who just don’t consider any of these issues, ever!) When (if) I get back to BC, I really should move to the upper Fraser Valley; then I could live in Hope for the rest of my life LOL
Hope you and Pauline (and any other readers) are having a good weekend.
~ Linne
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Hi Linne. The Greens will be very disappointed with that result. they have grown with every election and hoped for 15% this time. I don’t personally like the NP at all but plenty do. NP supporters are more conscientious voters and when people get demoralised they don’t bother voting at all…never mind, what is, is and no changing it. We have the Chinese govt buying up our farms here, why it is allowed I don’t know.
Hope sounds a nice place to live 🙂 Probably beats Robbie’s Normal lol.
Weekend over for us now but yes, was a good one thanks, hope you are too 🙂
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Re the elections, I will join the disappointed group. 😦 The article reminds me of the strange way people often say “man vs nature” when man is still every bit as natural as a fish or a flower.
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Yeah, pretty sad ay and probably the least said from me the better!!
I would agree with you there too!
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🙂
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🙂
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Looks like you went down the same road that we did and Australia is in one unholy mess thanks to our new completely consumer oriented profit mongering government. “Profit over people” should be their slogan. Sorry to hear that you didn’t get the best outcome but mainstream society tends to be an incredibly self serving lot and if a political party appeals to their hip pockets, albeit in a pork-barelly kind of way, they are going to jump on board faster than they can think and as we all know, “Act in haste, repent in leisure” 😦
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Couldn’t agree more Fran. A lady I was working with a couple of weeks ago summed it up. They have owned a vineyard for many years and they always vote National she told me because of their tax policies. What surprised me was their landslide victories in all areas of Christchurch, where 4 years after their earthquakes the roads are still a mess and so many are still fighting EQC to get their broken or unlivable houses fixed which I think is appalling.
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I guess people would rather follow the bouncing ball than look a bit to the left and see that the bouncing ball is going over a cliff…lemming syndrome methinks 😦
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Yup.
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Thank you for sharing… 🙂
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