Why now?
The human species is a late-comer to this planet. Like any other species it will survive only if it is able to adapt..
Slowly we are awakening to our responsibility for protecting our planet. Perhaps above all it is the illusion of being separate from the Earth which makes us a dangerous species. Unless we get over this illusion industrial-consumer ways of life will tighten their grip. We are harming the air and water, and driving whole species to extinction; too many people are starving and hurting; too many are over-fed and numb. A better story about being human could help us take the evolutionary step forward and connect to the natural core of what it is to be an awake embodied human being Unless we do this the web of life may not hold.
Many good things are happening, but at times we feel ourselves switching off on the stream of bad news: poverty, violence, the damage done to the land and the sea, the pain of creatures we live among. Yet these undercurrents of suffering still affect us even though we tune them out. Perhaps we get angry sometimes, or scared, or feel overwhelmed just thinking about all this: too frozen to act. Evolution says adapt or die out. We are the first species to be faced with the choice.
What happens then?
These emotional blinkers make us numb. They allow us to function but sever our timeless connection to the other than human world and its sacred beauty. Below the surface, we still sense the danger we are in. When its urgency stirs us up we get irritable, impatient and suspicious of others. Anger and fear can be a spur to action but the world actually looks more dangerous when we feel threatened. The survival emotions - fight and fight, freeze and fold – de-couple the heart-brain connection that make us fully human. History show that put under enough pressure, quite ordinary folk like you and me can stop acting like human beings. Politics will not rescue us from this. We need active hope.
As Joanna Macy puts it:
So this is where we begin - by acknowledging that our times confront us with realities that are painful to face, difficult to take in and confusing to live with. Our approach is to see this as the starting point of an amazing journey that strengthens us and deepens our aliveness. The purpose of this journey is to find offer and receive the gift of Active Hope
What can we do about this?
Humans are hard-wired for connection to the other than human world; and for compassion. But we have to practice re-connecting these circuits. We believe that there is wisdom and hope to be found in circles that gather together for re-calling our kinship and the connectedness that lives in us. We will use well-tried ways of holding the space so that we may hear one another’s true voice and find our deeper centre in quietness, where heart and brain can connect.
When?
As soon as we have found people who want to join with us. We are part of a planet-wide awakening that has been building momentum for half a century and more. Perhaps through works such as these and through social media we can create a ripple that will spread as new circles form and circle the planet: a web touched by all the circles that have ever gathered to seek wisdom.
