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From Separation to Connection
Finding Hope for Society in Troubling Times
In some of our darkest days, hope and light will not be denied. Historic, though not perfect, climate change legislation is finally getting through Congress! Voters across partisan lines stood up for female reproductive rights in a state where this was not expected to happen.
The many leaders and activists applying political pressure and mobilizing others deserve credit and are giving us hope in the words of Rebecca Solnit: “Hope is not a lottery ticket you can sit on the sofa and clutch, feeling lucky. It is an axe you break down doors with in an emergency.“
To build on this momentum, delving deeper into what holds us back from social and environmental progress is critical. We must consider how growing separation, division, and otherness lie at the root of our crises.
Fear of others feeds the mass proliferation of guns. A lack of empathy and understanding fuels an erosion of reproductive rights. Media bubbles portray the ‘other side’ as something to hate and resist at all costs. Our alienation from nature has put us on the verge of climate catastrophe and biodiversity collapse, threatening our own existence.
When connection becomes central in our lives, change happens. Climate events where we live, from wildfires to flooding, as devastating as they are, wake us up to our relationship with nature– being part of it and depending upon its stability and healthy functioning. Voters who are pro-life give pause to outright abortion bans, knowing family members and friends may be impacted. Connection to nature and each other helps temper extreme positions and put us on the path to healing our society and planet.
To truly be on that path, we must also address the undercurrents of separation, division, and otherness that manifest themselves across our society. There are important examples of how we can do this.
Take Braver Angels, a bipartisan network of leaders and organizations. They lead workshops and events that reduce polarization and bring people together from across the political and social divide.
The Uncommon Dialogue’s program brought together the hydropower industry and environmentalists to find common ground. Facilitated by Dan Reicher at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, the traditionally opposed groups forged an agreement for policy and federal funding, as featured in a recent article by Tracie White in Stanford Magazine.
A timber company has worked with nonprofits and government agencies to sustainably manage forests through the Santa Cruz Mountains Stewardship Network, managed by Dylan Skybrook.
At the deepest level, we must recognize that we have been separated, divided, and othered to an ever-increasing extent with great harm happening to nature and those without power. Yet as Indigenous wisdom shows us, we are all connected through our shared humanity and the web of life. (I also write about this in We Are Everything: Building a Path to a Better Society).
