Thanks

Even in the darkest of situations can we find a way to be joyful? Is there a kind of gratitude which isn't a turning away from the gravity of things? Might just this joy and gratitude be what's called for if we're to face our situation with sufficient energy, creativity and ethical care? A conversation about not turning away with Lizzie Winn and Justin Wise of Thirdspace.

Here's Episode 82 of Turning Towards Life, a weekly live 30 minute conversation hosted by Thirdspace in which Justin Wise and Lizzie Winn dive deep into big questions of human living.

Find us on FaceBook to watch live and join in the lively conversation on this episode. We're also on YouTube, and as a podcast on Apple, Google and Spotify.

In this conversation we talk together about how it might be possible to face the darkness and difficulties of the world without collapsing into a frozen fearfulness, without cutting ourselves off from others through panic and rage, and without denial. We consider the ways in which the culture many of us have grown up in teaches us always to be dissatisfied, to live our lives as if we'll only be able to show up when we have exactly the circumstances we think are due to us, and how this keeps us distant from the possibility of contributing to improving things. We talk together about how joy can connect us and those around us to the qualities and creativity the world needs so much, and how it might be possible to be joyful even in the midst of the deepest darkness.

As ever we are grateful for the wisdom and depth of those whose writing is at the heart of this project, and particularly this week for this poem by W S Merwin, who died last month at the age of 91. You can read more about him and his work in this article in The Atlantic.

And you can find the source for this week's episode here.