“Soul of Nonviolence” is a podcast that reflects on a different nonviolence quote each week. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or via RSS.
The pain we feel for our world is a living testimony to our interconnectedness with it. If we deny this pain, we become like blocked and atrophied neurons, deprived of life’s flow and weakening the larger body in which we take being. But if we let it move through us, we affirm our belonging; our collective awareness increases. We can open to the pain of the world in confidence that it can neither shatter nor isolate us, for we are not objects that can break. We are resilient patterns within a vaster web of knowing.
— Joanna Macy
With this week’s quote from Joanna Macy, I invite you to consider the upside to feeling collective pain. From the climate crisis to the fight for social justice, we are immersed in the pain of the world due to our interconnection. Pretending that’s not the case might save us from some of this pain, but also isolates us from life’s loving flow.
In this podcast, we turn our attention to the beauty that comes with that connection by growing into pain and allowing vulnerability to strengthen us collectively. In the end, this quote affirms our resilience rooted in hope, love, and belonging.