Transcript for Joanna Macy – Synergy

global oneness project Synergy There's a lot of fear right now and it's not surprising. There's a lot to be scared of. We are losing securities that we thought we had. Joanna Macy - San Francisco, California - Eco-philosopher and Activist And not just money but being able to have a satisfying, respectable job and not just an income but being able to be close to our families. The assumption that we can have the medical care, etc., etc. So how do we live with the fear that is natural when a highly complex civilization begins to come apart because it is destroying itself on these basic assumptions of nonseparateness and the assumptions that breed empire. My experience is don't try to handle it alone. Don't go there. If you have recurrent responses of fear or confusion, this is the time to get together. This is what we've done from the beginning, by the way, since the time we walked through the long millenia as hunter-gatherers. Every step of the way we did it together. So we puncture the illusion that we can be captains of our ship and masters of our soul and work together in groups. There is powerful magic there. And the magic is synergy; that what you can't understand by yourself you're not supposed to; you're supposed to understand it with others. The steps you want to take you don't see by yourself you see as you come together with others. And you exult in each other's originality. So I've often thought--because they've had such impact on my life-- that study circles and study action circles are the greatest social invention of the 20th century. They're really coming in handy now. People can become each other's teachers and companions in learning and in preparing new ways to organize our lives and our communities. This is the time to listen to ourselves with each other. There are ways of doing that right here. www.globalonenessproject.org - Footage courtesy of the Pachamama Alliance