by Molly Brown
Recorded by Molly Brown
Welcome!
For this March 2023 issue of Deep Times, the editorial team decided to have an open theme. Yet, like in previous issues for which we didn’t have themes, a theme emerged from the submissions. Guess what? It’s emergence!
Emergence seems to be in the air these days, as we humans grapple with ever more challenging crises–climate disruption and pollution of air, water, and soil; racism, oppression, and caste systems; financial/economic inequality and breakdown; species extinction, and so much more. We obviously can’t resolve these crises with our current worldviews and institutions, so we must look beyond the known to what is trying to emerge from the living system of Earth. That’s how living systems evolve: through creative and unpredictable emergence.
Recently, my spouse and I were reflecting on the words “emergence” and “emergency.” It occurred to us that an emergency is when something emerges so quickly and/or so unexpectedly that we don’t know how to respond. We have to rely on our instincts and intuition in such moments, and we may be surprised at what emerges from within.
Can we learn to “tune into” what is emerging and what is trying to emerge, as frightening and unfamiliar as it may be? Can we open ourselves to mystery and make ourselves available to support healthy emergence? Many of the practices of Work That Reconnects help people do just that, often through the exercise of what Joanna calls our “moral imagination.” Even though the poems and articles in this issue may not speak directly to emergence as a theme, they all have emerged from the creative life of the authors in response to themes, concepts, and practices of the Work That Reconnects.
The Spiral begins with gratitude, with poems by Kent Wittenburg and Patricia Samper celebrating trees and gardens, and Rebecca Selove describes how she sees our editorial team working with emergent strategy in our meetings.
In Honoring Our Pain for the World, Leo Murray offers a “Dirge for the Ocean.” Michael Wellman shares his understanding of the necessity of grieving that came through his graduate work and dissertation. Kirsi Jansa eloquently describes her process in honoring her pain for the world, followed by Will Falk’s poem “Gaia’s got a lot to do.”
Three poems by Andrea Bradney, Sophie Hayat, and Danielle Vogel invite us to See with New and Ancient Eyes. Jessica Zeller challenges us to expand the boundaries of our identity and Pegi Eyers shares her “truth-tales” of immersive experiences in nature.
Our Going Forth section shows how the Work That Reconnects can inspire and support: climate activism (by Kirsty Heron and Tom Deacon), sustainability researchers in academia (by Eileen Laurie), and musical expression (by Linda Chase). Poems by Cheryl Pallant and Susi Moser grace this theme as well.
Michael Wellman explores identity and community in Evolving Edge. Resources include a review of a new book by Debora Eden Tull and short reviews of books and magazines in “Our Editors Are Reading.” The Network section features news of a Gaian Gathering, new website, and new Weavers.
The editorial team put out a call for “words that reconnect,” which Valia Papoutsaki is now collating for our September issue. This is an invitation to co-create, (re)imagine and (re)interpret as well as (re)embrace an emergent (or latent) vocabulary for a deeper sense of connection that reflects our current times and the need for socio-economic, cultural, and environmental change–a vocabulary that also reflects the diverse contexts in which the Work That Reconnects is now being practiced. Valia has already received over a dozen emergent words and would like more. Send us your choice of one to three “words that reconnect” with up to 100 words describing what this word means to you and how you could use it. Send to [email protected]
May we support one another as we grapple with the Great Unraveling and work for the Great Turning, knowing that we can neither predict nor control what will emerge from the creative interactions of the living systems of Earth.
Deep Times: A Journal of The Work That Reconnects
Vol. #8 Issue #1 – March 2023
Editor: Molly Brown
Editorial Team: Karina Lutz (poetry editor), Rebecca Selove, Carolyn Treadway, Erin Holtz Braeckman, Evangelia (Valia) Papoutsaki, Shayontoni Ghosh and Silvia Di Blasio. More about the team here.
Graphic Design: Frieda Nixdorf
Webmaster: Silvia Di Blasio & Shayontoni Ghosh
Deep Times is published online twice a year by the Work That Reconnects Network.
The Network provides support, guidance, and inspiration to people all over the world in their work for the Great Turning. We welcome your donations to support the Work That Reconnects Network and Deep Times. The Work That Reconnects Network is currently a fiscal project of Inquiring Systems, Inc. so all donations are tax-deductible.
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-ShareAlike 4.0.
