Dear John,

The next Local Peace Economy gathering is this Wednesday will offer a deep dive into grief. 

We are grateful to welcome Aerin Dunford, "Lead Weaver" at The Emergence Network, to facilitate this conversation.

Almost everyone is experiencing some form of grief in this moment. Fourteen months of an ongoing and horrific genocide and living in this extractive, destructive and oppressive war economy gives us something to grieve every day. Often our first response to an event or episode that triggers intense grief is to turn away. We can temporarily set it aside by mindless busyness or dull it with pleasure-seeking, but the need to grieve remains, waiting for our attention and care.

Francis Weller, the grief activist and poet, suggests that the true work of grief is to strip away our personal stories. He feels that the deeply oppressive experience of grief in our culture is because we tend to carry grief as a solitary burden, rather than within community. He says, “The psyche knows we are not capable of handling grief in isolation.” Whether the message is coming from the media, your family, your workmates, or your friends, the message is often “OK, It's sad. But you need to get back to your old life and be productive.”  We are watching what we relied on dissolving before our very eyes daily.  The structures that we thought were unbreakable are shattering.

How can we move through the cycle of reconnection and help those around us in our communities?  How can we raise our awareness to meet this moment in history with ALL we need to meet it with? 

Join us in for this conversation Wednesday, December 18th at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT as we learn together.

UPCOMING Local Peace Economy Gatherings:

• Upcoming (1/1) LPE Gathering focused on Commitment-making and New Year's Resolutions
• January Local Peace Economy Writing Workshop (1/6)
• February Local Peace Economy Writing Workshop (2/3)

Other supportive resources:

• Link to this week's CODEPINK Radio episode featuring Transition Towns and the Local Peace Economy
• Video introduction to the workbook
• Local Peace Economy Wiki
• Local Peace Economy Padlet — add yourself and see who is near you!
• Download The Local Peace Economy Workbook (free digital version)
• Purchase The Local Peace Economy Workbook (physical copy)
• The Local Peace Economy website
• CODEPINK Radio Ep. 242: The Local Peace Economy
• CODEPINK Radio Ep. 256: What is the root of peace?

We hope to see you on December 18th.

With care,

Jodie, Marie, Daisy & Cameron

P.S.   Watch this recent Learning Hour with Charles Eisenstein and Jodie Evans. The conversation centers on the topic of "Unlearning" as a path to realizing the Local Peace Economy.