Many people feel overwhelmed, uncertain, or powerless in a world grappling with climate crises, political instability, and societal upheaval. But what if there was a way to process these emotions and transform them into meaningful action? This is the premise of “The Work That Reconnects” and Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re in with Unexpected Resilience and Creative Power, developed by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnson. These tools invite us to explore our emotional responses to the world, shift our perspectives, and find meaningful ways forward.

In this episode of The Gentle Rebel Podcast, I chat with Cindy Gale, a psychotherapist, transactional analyst, and facilitator of The Work That Reconnects. In our conversation, she shared several practices for staying anchored as we navigate the pressing complexity of our times.

The Three Stories of Our Time

The Work That Reconnects is built on the idea that we have three stories running through society. Cindy describes them in this way:

Business as Usual

We live in the midst of a success story where we can have lamb from New Zealand and strawberries in January, where we can fly all over the world and plan for our future. It’s a story that views economic and technological developments as having made life easier, and where looking for how to ‘move things forward’ is a given.

The Great Unraveling

This story says it’s too late already. The die is cast. It’s all overwhelming: depleted natural resources, climate change and superstorms, the rich getting richer and everyone else getting poorer; where, globally, there are the multitudes of really poor who are suffering and starving, species are going extinct, war is big business; where it all goes on and on – until it won’t anymore.

The Great Turning

Then there is a third story, The Great Turning, which Joanna Macy calls ‘the essential adventure of our time.’ It is an energising and enlivening story about living in the present, engaging with life fully and to the best of our abilities, and making a difference in the world as it is today (not as we wish it were).

The Problem With Hope

Active hope is not “blind hope” or wishful thinking. It’s about taking action rather than sitting back and saying, “I hope everything works out OK,” or waiting for the “inevitable technological fix we want to believe is coming.

Joanna Macy writes:

• Active Hope is not wishful thinking.
• Active Hope is not waiting to be rescued by the Lone Ranger or some saviour.
• Active Hope is waking up to the beauty of life on whose behalf we can act.
• We belong to this world.
• The web of life is calling us forth at this time.
• We’ve come a long way and are here to play our part.
• With Active Hope, we realise that there are adventures in store,
• strengths to discover and comrades to link arms with.
• Active Hope is a readiness to engage.
• Active Hope is a readiness to discover the strengths in ourselves and in others, a readiness to discover the reasons for hope and the occasions for love.
• A readiness to discover the size and strength of our hearts,
• our quickness of mind, our steadiness of purpose, our own authority, our love for life,
• the liveliness of our curiosity, the unsuspected deep well of patience and diligence, the keenness of our senses, and our capacity to lead.

None of these can be discovered in an armchair or without risk.

Active Hope Spiral Practices

Cindy shares the Active Hope spiral practices, which support the pathway to live with Active Hope.

The spiral has four stages: Gratitude, Honouring Our Pain, Seeing with New Eyes, and Going Forth. It helps us process thoughts and feelings, shift our perspective, and connect with meaningful steps forward.

Part One – Gratitude

The spiral begins with gratitude, a revolutionary act in a world that thrives on scarcity mindsets and consumerism.

Open Sentences on Gratitude

1. What are some things that I love about being alive on Earth?
2. A place that was magical or wonderful to me as a child was…
3. A person who helped me believe in myself is/was…
4. Some things I enjoy doing and making are…
5. Some things I appreciate about myself are…

Part Two – Honouring Our Pain for the World

Grief, anger, and fear often accompany our awareness of the world’s struggles. This stage invites us to lean into these emotions rather than suppress them. Cindy emphasises that acknowledging pain is vital for healing and prevents it from hardening within.

Open Sentences on Honouring Our Pain for the World

1. What concerns me most about our world is…
2. What I find hard about this moment in my life on this planet is…
3. The emotions I carry around with me are…
4. Ways I avoid these feelings are…
5. Some ways I can use these feelings are…

Part Three – Seeing with New Eyes

This stage involves perspective-shifting exercises rather than open sentences. While no specific open sentences were given, the stage focuses on reframing perceptions of power, collaboration, and interconnectedness.

The perspective shift tells us:

Unlimited Economic Growth is a Myth

Nothing in the universe grows endlessly without limits. Infinite economic growth is inherently unsustainable and defies the natural laws of balance and resource availability.

Maximising Profit Leads to Imbalance

When one variable, profit, is consistently prioritised over all others, the system becomes skewed. This imbalance leads to overshoot and eventual collapse because other essential factors (e.g., ecological health and human well-being) are ignored.

Externalising Costs and Blocking Feedback

Corporations often offload ecological and human costs onto third parties, such as taxpayers and the natural world, to maximise profit.
This practice distorts the perception of true costs and blocks the feedback that systems need to self-regulate, making the system unsustainable and ultimately self-destructive.

Top-Down Power Dynamics

The industrial growth society (capitalism) relies on hierarchical and competitive structures where power is understood as “power over” others.
This “win-lose” mindset drives insatiable wants and further perpetuates inequality and exploitation.

Interdependence and Collaboration as Power

By shifting our perspective, we can see power as a partnership, arising from collaboration rather than domination.
This reframing encourages a shift toward cooperative efforts that sustain life for all beings.

The Goal of Economic Activity Should Be Sufficiency for All

A life-sustaining society prioritises sufficiency and balance rather than unchecked profit.

The focus is on meeting the needs of all living beings now and in the future, ensuring that economic activity aligns with the integrity of natural systems.

Feedback is Essential for Accountability

Systems require feedback to assess the true costs of actions and the harm they may cause.

Without feedback mechanisms, harmful behaviours continue unchecked, leading to systemic collapse.

Humans are Both Unique and Inseparable from the Web of Life

Our genuine self-interest includes the well-being of other beings and the planet.

Recognising this interconnectedness shifts our understanding of what it means to thrive as individuals and communities.

Part Four – Going Forth: Turning Insights into Action

The final stage focuses on moving forward with purpose. This is where the insights gained from gratitude, grief, and new perspectives are channelled into meaningful action.
Reflection Questions:

1. If you knew you couldn’t fail, what would you do in service to life on Earth?
2. In pursuing this vision, what particular project do you feel called to undertake?
3. What resources (inner and outer) do you have now that will help you do this?
4. What resources (inner and outer) will you need to acquire to follow your calling?
5. How much do you stop yourself? What obstacles might you throw in your way?
6. How will you move through and around these obstacles?
7. What can you do in the next week to move along this path, no matter how small the step?

Small Things Lead To Big Changes

We all have different roles and will be drawn to particular forms of active hope more than others. This resonates with Dorcas Cheng-Tozen’s writing in her book Social Justice For The Sensitive Soul, which points out that there isn’t one correct form of social justice for everyone. There is a place for everyone when it comes to addressing the issues of our time.

Holding Actions

Holding back the tide of bad things through direct activism and supporting people and places facing present crises.

Building New Structures

What things can we build or fix to make tomorrow better for everyone?

Shift in Consciousness

We must change how we think of ourselves, one another, and the more than human world.

Links

Cindy’s Website

The Work That Reconnects