The challenges we face can be difficult even to think about. Climate change, the depletion of oil, economic upheaval, and mass extinction together create a planetary emergency of overwhelming proportions. Active Hope shows us how to strengthen our capacity to face this crisis so that we can respond with unexpected resilience and creative power. Drawing on decades of teaching an empowerment approach known as the Work That Reconnects, the authors guide us through a transformational process informed by mythic journeys, modern psychology, spirituality, and holistic science. This process equips us with tools to face the mess we’re in and play our role in the collective transition, or Great Turning, to a life-sustaining society.
Active Hope
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Editorial Reviews
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“Books about social and ecological change too often leave out a vital component: how do we change ourselves so that we are strong enough to fully contribute to this great shift? Active Hope fills this gap beautifully, guiding readers on a journey of gratitude, grief, interconnection, and, ultimately, transformation.”
— Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine
“To the future beings of the twenty-second century, Active Hope might turn out to be the most important book written in the twenty-first.”
— Bill Plotkin, author of Soulcraft and Nature and the Human Soul
“More than any book I’ve read, Active Hope shows us the true dimensions of this crisis, and the way our heart and actions can be part of the great turning toward healing. Please read this book and share it with others — for your own awakening, for our children, and for our future.”
— Tara Brach, PhD, author of Radical Acceptance
“Active Hope is a brilliant guide to sanity and love.”
— Roshi Joan Halifax, abbot of the Upaya Zen Center
“If you have despaired for our world, and if you love life, Active Hope will be for you an extraordinary blessing.”
— John Robbins, author of Diet for a New America and The Food Revolution
“Active Hope is not just a book but a gateway to transformation.”
— Jim Douglass, author of JFK and the Unspeakable
— Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine
“To the future beings of the twenty-second century, Active Hope might turn out to be the most important book written in the twenty-first.”
— Bill Plotkin, author of Soulcraft and Nature and the Human Soul
“More than any book I’ve read, Active Hope shows us the true dimensions of this crisis, and the way our heart and actions can be part of the great turning toward healing. Please read this book and share it with others — for your own awakening, for our children, and for our future.”
— Tara Brach, PhD, author of Radical Acceptance
“Active Hope is a brilliant guide to sanity and love.”
— Roshi Joan Halifax, abbot of the Upaya Zen Center
“If you have despaired for our world, and if you love life, Active Hope will be for you an extraordinary blessing.”
— John Robbins, author of Diet for a New America and The Food Revolution
“Active Hope is not just a book but a gateway to transformation.”
— Jim Douglass, author of JFK and the Unspeakable
About the Author
Ecophilosopher Joanna Macy, PhD, is a scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep ecology. A respected voice in movements for peace, justice, and the environment, she interweaves her scholarship with five decades of activism. Physician and coach Dr. Chris Johnstone is a specialist in the psychology of resilience, happiness, and positive change.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
39 of 39 people found the following review helpful
By Barbara Ford
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This brilliant new offering from Chris Johnstone and eco-philosopher Joanna Macy transforms her previous wonderful work, the Work That Reconnects, into a highly accessible and inspiring philosophical ground to stand on as we weather the literal and metaphoric storms of our times. Well organized, and with lots of opportunities for creative personal inquiry, it offers a new way to think about and honor our concerns and love for the world. If you've been feeling overwhelmed, cynical, or despairing in the face of environmental crises, economic disparity, and injustice, this book will feel like a healing rain on parched earth.
This would be a particularly wonderful book to share in a book group as well!
This would be a particularly wonderful book to share in a book group as well!
38 of 40 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Crucial piece of work: hope as something you do, not something you have
March 8, 2012
By ManuArg
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Our identities (and, to a great extent, our destinies) are shaped by the story we, consciously or not, tell ourselves about the events in our lives, how we interpret them and how such interpretations make us behave. This makes sense in our personal lives -at least, it does for me and many, many people I know first hand-. This book shows that it is not only sensible but crucial to apply the same principle at the collective level- starting by ourselves, that is. For those of us who refuse to seek comfort in wishful thinking or ignore the increasingly obvious symptoms, cries and dangers of a system thrown out of balance, yet feel trapped into a sense of powerlessness and other painful emotions, this is a must-read.
As its authors contend, great revolutions start in the fringes. It shows a "third story": neither "we'll figure something out, just keep doing what you are doing" nor "we are already screwed, what is the point of anything?", but the very human ability to rise to the occasion and finally reach our collective adulthood as a "life-sustaining society", to use their words. I cannot yet say that I have become an optimist, at least not a full-time one. But maybe that is precisely the point -central in the book, to be sure-: is it only worth fighting for something we have good chances of succeeding at? What if we do not have a clue about the chances we actually have, what if we even KNOW that they are slim: does that make the very cause of making our world a place in which life is celebrated, and not exploited, not worth the effort?
I do not think so. As Frankl attests, even in the worst conceivable conditions, nobody can take away from me the freedom to choose my attitude and find meaning in my life. There is a phrase that has been popping a lot into my mind lately. Nando Parrado said it to Roberto Canessa, in 1972, when they made their last attempt to cross the Andes to Chile, 70 days after their plane crashed in the mountains, when almost everyone had given up on them: "If I die, I'm gonna die walking". This book is a priceless compass to do just that.
Just imagine what the world can be like if millions of us choose to acknowledge our pain, our fear, our ultimate freedom- and keep walking.
As its authors contend, great revolutions start in the fringes. It shows a "third story": neither "we'll figure something out, just keep doing what you are doing" nor "we are already screwed, what is the point of anything?", but the very human ability to rise to the occasion and finally reach our collective adulthood as a "life-sustaining society", to use their words. I cannot yet say that I have become an optimist, at least not a full-time one. But maybe that is precisely the point -central in the book, to be sure-: is it only worth fighting for something we have good chances of succeeding at? What if we do not have a clue about the chances we actually have, what if we even KNOW that they are slim: does that make the very cause of making our world a place in which life is celebrated, and not exploited, not worth the effort?
I do not think so. As Frankl attests, even in the worst conceivable conditions, nobody can take away from me the freedom to choose my attitude and find meaning in my life. There is a phrase that has been popping a lot into my mind lately. Nando Parrado said it to Roberto Canessa, in 1972, when they made their last attempt to cross the Andes to Chile, 70 days after their plane crashed in the mountains, when almost everyone had given up on them: "If I die, I'm gonna die walking". This book is a priceless compass to do just that.
Just imagine what the world can be like if millions of us choose to acknowledge our pain, our fear, our ultimate freedom- and keep walking.
26 of 28 people found the following review helpful
By marian mcc
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book got me moving towards some positive action for the well-being of all beings, after I had stalled because I felt everything was too hard and almost hopeless for our planet. i cannot recommend it highly enough for all people who want our planet, with its animals, trees, and all other life to not just survive but thrive. it is gentle and encouraging, and gives exercises that help us take the next step.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fast & easy
Great service with a note of thanks for my business. Great service! There's not much more to be said about it.
Published 2 months ago by Jeffrey S. Joslin
5.0 out of 5 stars
Incredibly helpful
We live in a state of ignorance about the threats to our planet and the life on it. When we try to take steps to change our behaviors, to face the facts, to act more responsibly... Read more
Published 3 months ago by firecat
4.0 out of 5 stars
Can we really tell ourselves the story we want to hear?
There are three questions that I ask of this book; `what is it about, what can we learn from it and what do I think about it'?
What is `it' about? Read more
What is `it' about? Read more
Published 3 months ago by Edward J Kelly
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must read for anyone concerned about the world.
The authors manage to nurture my spirit and encourage my flagging activism through their simple, profound approach to how those of us concerned about social justice and the... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Kathleen T Kenney
3.0 out of 5 stars
Book review
Some people might need these techniques but if you are a practical person you are probably already using these techniques.
Published 4 months ago by Suzanne M. Parker
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well thought out & accessible plan for looking at and dealing with the...
Innovative thinking and enjoyable to read--Joanna Macy is a treasure! A usable plan for moving ahead and using consciousness to move into the new era ahead of us.
Published 4 months ago by Oxford Linda
3.0 out of 5 stars
Active Hope
Okay, nothing new. I probably would not buy this again but it was easy to read and the price was okay.
Published 5 months ago by CLR
5.0 out of 5 stars
Overwhelmed? Fearful? Hopeless? Here's your book.
To read deeply in ecology without having this book on hand would be like deep-fat frying without a fire extinguisher nearby. Tremendously foolhardy. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Guttersnipe Das
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hope!!
Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone have written a typically timely and important book. They present hope as real and so much more than optimism. Read more
Published 11 months ago by D. Heatherly
5.0 out of 5 stars
A healthy dose of optimism
How do we face the grim reality of the state of our world, with looming depletion of key resources, widespread ecological devastation, global climate change, and massive... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Hrvoje Butkovic
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