I live my life in widening circles
that reach out across the world.
I may never complete this last one,
but I give myself to it.
–Joanna Macy
On July 19, 2025, Joanna Macy died at the age of 96. She was an author, teacher, eco-philosopher, and Buddhist scholar and practitioner. I had the privilege of participating in a workshop with her in January 2000 and have read several of her books.
Today, I write to honor her and all that I and so many others around the world learned from her.
She once said, “The darker the circumstance, the more brilliant the invitation.”
Given the dark circumstances in which we are living we are mostly certainly receiving a strikingly brilliant invitation to respond to (1) the accelerating ecological crises; (2) the increasing social instability and dehumanization of people, especially people of color and women; and (3) the exponential growth of artificial intelligence.
In response to this invitation, I sit with the question of how field awareness might help us bridge the differences among us that are getting in the way of us working together to respond to these dark circumstances. After all, who is there but us—you and I—to tackle the complex issues facing us?
My experience is that awareness of the personal, social, and noetic fields enables me, and can enable all of us, to contribute our individual gifts—knowledge, perspectives, and dreams—and simultaneously know that we are deeply interconnected.
If we ignore the fields in which we are operating and hang onto our individual points of view and increase our sense of separation, how can we dance in the widening circles Joanna spoke of? How can we dance with the fields of energy and information in which we live so that we can bridge our differences in order to create a world that is more caring and just?
There are three potential keys to bridging differences through field awareness. The first key involves being a fully conscious Self and tending one’s inner state—our personal field—so that we are not driven by the more self-protective and primitive parts of the brain. Conscious awareness of this personal field enables us to access and integrate the wisdom of our hearts, bodies and minds along with the wisdom of others and of nature and the cosmos. This might be the most challenging of the keys to embody. I hold it as a lifetime practice.
The second key means developing Skills for the social field: (1) being a participating observer; (2) listening carefully and compassionately; (3) asking questions of genuine curiosity; and (4) speaking with clarity, conviction, AND connection. The challenge of doing all of these entails staying in contact with ourselves, others, and the space in which we are interacting. These skills help us align our intention with our impact. Are we having the impact we intend on others and the situation?
Finally, the most complex challenge is practicing the first two keys while also paying attention to the Situation in which we are interacting. This includes the fields of energy and information being generated within us—the personal field—and among us—the social field. The situation also includes the context—what’s going on within others, the community, or the organization—and the setting in which the conversation is occurring. The setting affects everyone in an interaction: outside in nature or in a meeting room with or without windows, the lighting and the chairs, and the history of the land and its people.
Might these three keys help us bridge differences and widen our circle of care and connection so that we can more ably respond to the brilliant invitation before us?
For more information about fields, explore our website—www.spaceisnotempty.net—or read Alan Briskin’s and my book about fields, Space Is Not Empty: How Hidden Fields Are Shaping Your Life and Our World, due out in late September or early October 2025. You can also search for specifics about fields and the skills noted in the second key by searching blog posts at https://gelinasjames.com/how-we-talk-matters/