Going Forth as Fractals of Joanna Macy
By ian goh
“I am a continuation like the rain is a continuation of the cloud.”
— Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh
In this pivotal moment of planetary crisis and awakening, we find ourselves called to honor a realization:
We are all Joanna’s continuations now
As members of the Work That Reconnects Network, we carry forward not only her revolutionary framework for personal and social transformation, but also her unwavering commitment to the healing of our world and the liberation of all beings.
Joanna’s dream has been reborn in our hearts, and as she returns to Earth, we breathe and live, embodying not only her spirit but also that of Gautama Buddha, Rumi, Francis of Assisi, Rainer Maria Rilke, Thich Nhat Hanh, her beloved Francis Macy and many others as part of a continuing lineage of spiritual ancestors dedicated to the Great Turning.
Continuation means recognizing that death and regeneration are inseparable. Our dying becomes a generous offering to the earth, nourishing future generations through the layers of soil, story, and spirit we leave behind. As Joanna illustrates this beautifully in the We Are The Great Turning podcast series
“If you want to love our world, you have to be ready to die with it.”
We are continuations not only of Joanna Macy but of all our spiritual, cultural, and more-than-human ancestors. We carry forward the wisdom of Indigenous earth-keepers, Islamic, Christian and Buddhist teachers, systems thinkers, and countless unnamed beings who have worked for the healing of the world.
Ultimately, we are all continuations of Earth, however we choose to relate to this living planet that births and sustains us all. As expressions of Gaia, Pachamama and their many names, we participate in an ongoing relationship that requires tending to the countless layers Earth holds: the mycorrhizal networks beneath our feet, the ancestral memories in our bones, the breathing forests and flowing waters that weave through our being.
This understanding frees us from the anxiety of preserving Joanna’s work exactly as she left it, while inspiring us to embody its essential spirit in new forms.
Honoring Joanna as Beloved Spiritual Ancestor
Spiritual ancestry transcends biological lineage, encompassing those whose wisdom, courage, and vision continue to guide and inspire us long after their physical presence has transformed.
Joanna stands as such an ancestor—a bridge between worldviews and disciplines who brought ancient wisdom traditions together, dismantling the illusory boundaries of past, present and future.
Her work addresses the psychological and spiritual challenges of our time while fostering ecological awareness and revealing the deep connections between Buddhist thought and contemporary systems thinking.
From her early encounters with Tibetan Buddhism in 1965 while working with refugees in northern India to her doctoral work on convergences between systems thinking and Buddhist mutual causality, these wisdom traditions have always been central to the Work.
As we move forward, we carry the essence of her teachings: that we are not separate from the web of life, but integral expressions of its ongoing evolution and healing.
Returning to Roots
The roots of the Work That Reconnects reach deep into various worldviews from Indigenous to Buddhist, Islamic and Christian traditions, all of which see the natural world not as a resource to exploit but as a sacred entity connected to the cosmic order and spiritual life.
These wisdom traditions share profound understandings of interconnectedness, impermanence, and the sacred nature of all beings, advocating for ecological responsibility through teachings of love and kinship.
In particular, Indigenous worldviews remind us that the Earth has personhood that cannot be owned and must be shared with all of creation.
As we expand the Work, we simultaneously return to its deepest roots. This return is not romantic appropriation but of respectful relationships, which involves acknowledging our debts, sharing resources, and ensuring that Indigenous practitioners lead in sharing their own traditions.
The Evolution of the Spiral: Embracing Plural Manifestations
Life itself is plural, fluid, and wilding in its ever-changing manifestations. Just as we see spirals in tornadoes with many movements all at once, it is natural for Work That Reconnects to expand and diversify with emerging adaptations. Therefore as continuations of the Work, we must attune with this spirit of dynamic ever-changing transformation.
The traditional four-phase spiral of Coming from Gratitude, Honoring Our Pain for the World, Seeing with New/Ancient Eyes, and Going Forth has served as a powerful foundation.
Yet, as we face the intersecting crises of our time, we are called to embrace expanded spirals that put healing and undoing oppression front and center (see Mutima Imani’s Decolonised Expanded Spiral). For we know deep in our bodies that there is no ecological justice and liberation without personal and social justice and liberation.
“I vow to myself and to each of you to seek liberation from patriarchy, colonialism, and racism in all dimensions of my life.”
The additional vow to the original Five Vows of the Work That Reconnects represents one such evolution. Conceived by the founding members of the Spiral Journey Molly Young Brown, Constance Washburn and Mutima Imani, it is an adaptation that actively addresses systemic injustices pervading our lives and explicitly names the work of liberation as central to the practice of the Work.
Confronting Our Complicities: Five Critical Questions
To truly embody the ethos of ecological interdependence, relational care, and collective accountability, we must courageously examine the complex layers of oppression that manifest even within our most heartfelt work.
We must acknowledge that the Work That Reconnects is a modern tradition that draws from cultural wisdom traditions. This acknowledgment opens space for honest examination of how we can honor our sources while avoiding cultural appropriation and ensuring that Indigenous wisdom holders are centered, not put aside, in our practice.
Taking inspiration from Rilke’s call to live the questions, here are five we can sit and contemplate with as we seek to decolonize the Work That Reconnects:
1. What forms of knowledge are centered and which are made invisible? Is there a preference for Western psychological frameworks over Indigenous ways of understanding healing and transformation? How do we honor the deep time wisdom of land-based cultures alongside contemporary systems thinking?
2. How do power and authority show up in this space? Even as we practice mutual aid and shared leadership, are we reproducing hierarchies between those who hold formal training and those who carry embodied wisdom? Who gets to adapt and teach the practices, and whose voices shape how the Work evolves?
3. What languages are welcome and what is silenced? While we embrace the poetry of despair and empowerment work, do we make space for the specific vocabularies that different communities use to name their relationship with Earth? Are we translating concepts in ways that honor their original cultural contexts?
4. Whose stories of Earth and relationship are we telling? As we guide others through the spiral, whose cosmologies and creation stories inform our understanding of ecological identity? Are we centering settler narratives of “reconnection” while overlooking how colonization has broken Indigenous peoples’ relationships with the lands?
5. How do we practice reciprocity with our sources? Beyond intellectual acknowledgment, how do we ensure that the communities and traditions we learn from benefit materially and spiritually from our work? Are we extracting wisdom or truly engaging in the mutual exchange that the Work itself calls for?
Going Forth Towards Liberation
As we go forth as Joanna’s continuations, we carry both her revolutionary spirit and profound humility. We acknowledge our complicities in the complex layers of oppression even as we grieve with all our hearts and work for transformation. We understand that undoing oppression is not supplementary to the Work. Rather, it has to be front and center of our practice.
The Deep Ecology and regeneration movements have long been dominated by white voices, despite the fact that racialized communities are disproportionately affected by ecological destruction and have been leading ecological justice movements for decades. Within the Work That Reconnects, we must confront this reality honestly and take concrete action.
Making the Work That Reconnects accessible and inclusive for people around the world requires more than translation. It demands relearning and reimagining how we hold space, share power, and honor diverse ways of knowing.
This could involve:
- Decentering ourselves when we hold privilege and creating space for marginalized voices to lead.
- Creating culturally responsive practices that honor Indigenous and non-Western wisdom traditions as sources, not supplements.
- Seeding and nurturing the development of BIPOC facilitators and organizations dedicated to the Work, through funding and support.
- Continuously examining our practices through the lens of the five critical questions.
- Addressing material and structural barriers to participation through sliding scale offerings, scholarships and community support.
- Honoring the plural manifestations of the Work while maintaining its spirit of ecological interdependence, relational care, and collective accountability.
- Building genuine relationships across difference rather than performative inclusion.
The Anti-Oppression Resource Group of the WTR Network has been meeting since 2016 to explore these dynamics, developing resources and practices for creating more inclusive spaces. Learn more about their work here.
The Spiral Calls Us Onward
The spiral continues to turn, and with each revolution, we have the opportunity to embody more fully the truth that all liberation is interconnected. The healing of our world and the welfare of all beings depends not on our perfection, but on our willingness to keep learning, growing, and transforming.
We are the ones we have been waiting for.
We are Joanna’s continuations.
We are Earth awakening to ourselves.
And the spiral calls us onward, always onward, into the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible.
May we remember.
May we return.
May we go forth with courage, compassion, and the fierce love that this moment demands.
In loving memory of Joanna Macy, written by By Ian Goh on behalf of Spiral Journey
Molly Brown, ian goh, Rukmini Iyer, Sara El-Sayeh, Priyanka Sharma, Yulia Smagorinsky, and Constance Washburn
