J is for Joanna and Joy

July 25, 2025

“Yes, it looks bleak. But you are still alive now. You are alive with all the others, in this present moment. And because the truth is speaking in the work, it unlocks the heart. And there’s such a feeling and experience of adventure. It’s like a trumpet call to a great adventure. In all great adventures there comes a time when the little band of heroes feels totally outnumbered and bleak, like Frodo in Lord of the Rings or Pilgrim in Pilgrim’s Progress. You learn to say ‘It looks bleak. Big deal, it looks bleak.’”

~ Joanna Macy

Big deal, it looks bleak.

Let’s make it better, with verve and joy.

Joanna Macy, Buddhist teacher, systems scholar, author, and environmentalist, died at age 96 on July 19. If one can be a guide and mentor without ever having met in real life - she was such for me. In my work as a psychologist and professor, I had become aware over time of the toll that climate change and other forms of environmental destruction have on human health and well-being. This was not yet mainstream thinking and some of my colleagues thought my path was a little “woo-woo,” but Joanna had “got it” much earlier. Once I found her and her works and process, I felt less alone.

Her NY Times obituary shares the story of Joanna herself telling a therapist in the 1970s of her sadness about the destruction of a nearby forest. The therapist’s response – “the problem was her fear of her own libido [sex drive].” Geez. How grateful I am that she did not accept this interpretation of her experience, and that she went on to explore in depth the despair and grief that she and so many others felt upon witnessing what humans were doing to Earth, our common home.

In what she called her “despair” work, Joanna listened to enormous pain and grief and loss, and encouraged people not to deny these emotions, but to recognize and sit with them. Only when denial ended could there be change.

Over time, Joanna took her work further into a direction with greater hope. She conceptualized what was happening around us as the Great Unraveling – I really feel this as I look at what is happening not only to our natural environment, but also to our institutions and cultures. Things are falling apart.

But Joanna held out that the Great Unraveling is not an ending. Rather it is a beginning of the Great Turning during which we humans begin to re-evaluate how we can better live together and take actions in this direction. She developed a theory and related practices called The Work that Reconnects. In her words…

“The Work That Reconnects helps people discover and experience their innate connections with each other and the self-healing powers of the web of life, transforming despair and overwhelm into inspired, collaborative action.”

I used to teach psychology grad students about how human well-being is affected by the state of the natural world, both nearby and across the globe. Once in a while, I would throw out related terms to the students and ask them for their immediate emotional responses to the words or phrases. When I said “environmentalist,” many of the reactions were negative. Some of the comments – they are “crunchy hippies” (not a compliment!), always serious and sour, negative, lawbreakers, downers.

I am reading Joanna’s memoir right now. My students’ descriptions of environmentalists are far from who she was. She was such a ground-breaker – bold, feisty, intense, super smart, adventurous, and a lover of fun and joy. A lover of fun and joy.

It is a challenge to see and hold on to joy these days, but so necessary. I love seeing posts on FaceBook from friends who share photos and stories of their grandchildren’s activities and accomplishments – so I know that many of us are really able to focus close to home to see and savor moments of joy. Close to home is where I find it most often myself – times with family and friends, listening to music, discovering new foods, just laughing, being part of “actions” that might have a small but positive impact on our world. Joy. Gratitude. Persistence in LIFE.

What are your moments of joy? What inspires you as you walk into the Great Turning, a better world?

Yesterday, my good friend Lisa Turbeville Markowski, a mosaic artist, and I visited Schwirian Farms near Elizabeth, PA where they currently have field after field of sunflowers. The colors and textures were spectacular. Bees buzzed all around, lighting on the flowers as part of their important pollination job.

I have learned that, across cultures, sunflowers symbolize joy and optimism, new beginnings, strength and resilience and the ability to overcome challenges. We know that sunflowers are an important part of Ukrainian culture – I would like to borrow this symbol for our struggling nation.

What do you think?

Photo: “Joanna’s Joy”

July 24, 2025 at Schwirian Farms