FULL : A Great Turning: Healing for the Planet and Self

Workshop number: 
11
Lynn
Fitz-Hugh
Audience
Who may register: 
Open to All (adult & high school)
full-time attenders only
Time breakdown
Worship/worship-sharing: 
25%
Lecture: 
10%
Discussion: 
10%
Experiential Activities: 
55%
Description
Leader Experience: 

I have lead 13 workshops at FGC over the years and many, many AVP workshops. It is very important to me to tune into my workshop participants and to build community in any group I lead. Almost all the workshops I have lead at FGC have been on spiritual topics, although in my private life I am a busy activist. I cherish that this workshop will bring together the spiritual and the political.

In my professional life I am a psychotherapist, so that is another gift that I bring to this work of processing our feelings for the planet. I have also begun doing some of the Great Turning work here in my community.

Short Description: 

Based upon Joanna Macy’s very experiential and deep spiritual work, we will turn our grief and powerlessness to love and power for change! We will work with gratitude, grief, "deep time" and action steps, examining our feelings about world crises. Our grief demobilizes us; our love connects and activates us.

Long Description: 

Joanna Macy is an environmentalist, whole systems thinker and a Budhist. She has written books from: Despair and Empowerment in the Nuclear Age to Coming Back to Life. See her web site: http://www.joannamacy.net/. I have been trained by Joanna and this workshop is based upon her work. Joanna states that there are two things simultanesouly happening in our society right now: The great unraveling and the Great Turning. (as in Transformation). The outcome is still unknown to all and she says: "What an exciting time to be alive - when you can be part of deciding the outcome".

This is not an educational workshop. It starts from the assumption that you are already knowledgeable about the problems facing our world, and the belief that the grief most of us carry about the state of the world is demobilizing. I believe that when we can release that grief that the deep energy of hope, love and creativity can again be released to empower us to be effective agents for change in the world. This release is what the healing of self in the title refers to- it is not about personal physical healing of bodily ills.

This is deeply spiritual work. Many of you will be delighted to find your political concerns joined in this powerful process with your spiritual life and a sense of God's Presense. We will do the spiral - starting with gratitude for all that is good in this world, then moving into and thru our grief, and looking at whole systems theory and concepts of deep time to help us get new perspective and then moving into action plans for our returns home. Each person will leave with a plan that feels realistic to them.

This is a great workshop for long time activists as well as those who have never taken action, but feel deep concern for our society and our planned. If you are someone who is not comfortable with deep emotion or people crying this maybe an inappropriate or uncomfortable workshop for you - although I'm happy to support anyone trying to stretch. I also wish to reassure anyone afraid of just getting stuck in grief that the workshop is designed in a way that does not dwell in the dark stuff or leave people there. The wide spread experience of people doing "Great Turning" Workshops is that there is great relief in having a safe place to express the grief we all carry for the planet and that much energy is released by doing so.

We will spend approximately 30 minutes in worship every day. I will do very little lecturing and most of the discussion we will do is processing experiences we have done together. We will do many experiential exercises often in twos or fours or the whole group. We will learn from each other and from Spirit. If you are someone who likes to prepare for workshops by reading, then I encourage you to look at Joanna's books and pick out the one you are most drawn to and read it. However, reading is not a requirement for the workshop.

Please bring a meditation type pillow if you have one. There are a few things we will do on the floor. For those who cannot sit on the floor we will have you in chairs.