In July 2025, the world bid farewell (in this realm) to one of its most courageous and compassionate voices: Joanna Macy — scholar, teacher, activist, and guide.

This book group offers a space to gather in the wake of her passing — not just to mourn her death, but to reflect on how she lived, and to explore how we might take what we most admired in her and carry it forward within the dimensions of our own lives. Joanna had an incredible capacity for enduring commitment to humanity and the more-than-human world. There is something that wants to endure in each and every one of us, a vigilant beauty being forged in the decay of a society that dehumanizes self and other. Through this group we will forge that endurance into a force that carries us through an ever-changing landscape of global movement.

Together, we’ll read and discuss Widening Circles: A Memoir, Joanna’s deeply personal telling of her life — from Cold War activism to her embrace of Buddhism and systems thinking, to the creation of The Work That Reconnects. Through her stories, we see not only the evolution of a remarkable human being, but a mirror of the spiritual, ecological, and political crises we continue to face. Through her profound synthesis of systems thinking, Buddhist philosophy, deep ecology, and activist experience, Joanna created a body of work that doesn’t just educate — it transforms. Her teachings are not theories to be admired from afar, but living, breathing practices meant to be inhabited in community, especially in times of uncertainty.

This is not a study of ideas. It’s a chance to ask:

What mattered most to Joanna? What matters most to me? How do I want to live, now?

8 Weekly Sessions: Facilitated group conversations, rooted in selected chapters from Widening Circles

• Grounded Reflections: Prompts and discussion questions that invite meaningful, personal engagement

• A Space for Grief and Gratitude: Holding Joanna’s passing with care, while celebrating the clarity and conviction she modeled

• Integration Practices: Optional journaling, simple rituals from Joanna’s “Work That Reconnects,” and ways of bringing insight into action

• Community: A supportive circle of others drawn to this work, walking their own path through climate grief, spiritual growth, and personal transformation

This Group Is For You If:

• Joanna Macy’s work has impacted you, and you want to honor her life in community

• You’ve never read Widening Circles and are curious to meet Joanna through her own words

• You’re seeking clarity, courage, or companionship in uncertain times

• You want to explore what it means to live with purpose, humility, and connection

• You’re asking, like many of us: What now?

Full details and registration: https://programs.schoolforthegreatturning.com/widening-circle-sep-2025