Building Your Resilience with Active Hope
To continue working towards a better future, we need to counter feelings of powerlessness and burnout. Active Hope provides a framework for building resilience and finding purpose in a time of crisis. It empowers individual and collective action (and it works).
This spring, Wild Shore Consulting is offering a facilitated virtual cohort to read and collectively work through the book Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re in with Unexpected Resilience & Creative Power by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone.
Whether you grapple with environmental grief for our natural world, are already working or volunteering on the ground of an ongoing crisis, or are learning and find yourself paralyzed by news of climate change and social injustice, this series is for you.
Active Hope is a practice for anyone who is tired of feeling hopeless about the state of the world and is looking for a practical, soulful way to stay engaged, resilient, and creative in the face of global crisis.
Register your interest to be the first to hear about upcoming sessions and workshops.
How it works
We will meet for four intentional 90-minute virtual sessions from wherever you are in the world. Connecting with others who are holding and processing big emotions – even across a virtual space – is powerful. Participants will experience a safe and welcoming space that invites discussion, questions and growth. Virtual sessions will be thoughtfully planned, engaging, and transformational as we learn how to practice Active Hope.
Material will be learned and discussed over the course of four 90-minute sessions. Between sessions, participants will read a portion of the book (usually around 45-75 pages per two week period) and receive a guided reflective activity. Our goal is to truly make the most of our time together during the biweekly interactive virtual sessions.
What you’ll learn
The practice of Active Hope has three steps: embracing a clear view of reality, seeing the direction we want things to move in, and taking concrete steps to make an impact.
In this series, you will learn how to:
- Honor your pain for the world and view it as a source of power and connection;
- Move beyond feeling overwhelmed or paralyzed by systemic and global issues;
- Identify your unique role and how to take action based on the future you want to see; and,
- Create a plan for returning to the practices of Active Hope when you need it most.
What you’ll need
Note: it is important to acquire the 2nd edition from 2022. You can purchase your books from this local Minneapolis bookstore (Inkwell Booksellers Company), Indiebound.org, or wherever you get your books. If your book won’t arrive in time for the first session, contact Lindsey and she can share a digital copy of the first reading assignment.
Let’s get started
Registration fees go towards covering group coordination and professional meeting facilitation, and are offered through tiered pricing. The price listed includes all four virtual sessions and a 15 minute 1:1 check-in after the course. For sessions in 2026, 20% of each ticket price will be donated to the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota’s Immigrant Rapid Response Fund to support communities in Minnesota impacted by ICE and the U.S. Border Patrol.
This series is priced in tiers to ensure that financial circumstances are not a barrier to participation. Please select the tier that most honestly reflects your current financial reality:
- Supporter rate: $250 (For those who are able to afford “wants” and spend little time worrying about securing necessities. Your extra contribution helps cover the cost of those in the community tier.)
- Standard rate: $200 (For those with stable income and housing. You are comfortably able to meet all of your basic needs but may still have debt or be working towards building savings. This is the “true cost” of the program.)
- Community/Student rate: $100 (For those with tight budgets who have a small amount of “wiggle room” but little to no savings.)
Wild Shore is committed to making this group accessible to everyone. If you are currently experiencing financial hardship or struggling to meet basic needs but are interested in participating, please email Lindsey Taylor directly at lindsey@wildshoreconsulting.com.
Register using the form below to be the first to hear about upcoming opportunities.
Interested in learning as a team?
Is your organization or partnership interested in working through Active Hope together as a team? Register your interest below and I will reach out to you to discuss options for design & participation that will fit your needs (whether in-person or virtual) and organizational pricing.
Registration form
“Since Active Hope doesn’t require our optimism, we can apply it even in areas where we feel hopeless. The guiding impetus is intention; we choose what we aim to bring about, act for, or express. Rather than weighing our chances and proceeding only when we feel hopeful, we focus on our intention and let it be our guide.”
Joanna Macy