The Kindling Songs
A song cycle for hard times. Held gently.
Guided by
Work That Reconnects
â–¾ What is the Work That Reconnects?
The Work That Reconnects was developed by Joanna Macy over five decades, drawing on systems thinking, deep ecology, Buddhist teachings and the direct experience of thousands of participants worldwide.
Its practices are designed to help people move through the feelings that arise from living in a time of profound ecological and social crisis — grief, rage, fear, numbness — not as pathology but as love. When brought into shared space rather than privatised and suppressed, these feelings become connective tissue.
The WTR Spiral (Gratitude → Honouring Pain → Seeing with New Eyes → Going Forth) provides the journey arc for The Kindling Songs. The songs are activators and catalysts — music that lands in the body before the thinking mind catches up.
For full information, training and resources: workthatreconnects.org
Select a song to follow along · return here between songs
Prologue · The Call To Action
The first threshold. A call to act — not from despair, but from what we care about.
01(We Are Not) The WallPart 2 · Honouring the Pain for the World
Let what is true be true. Grief, rage, fear, numbness are love. Don't bypass the feelings of collapsing times.
02The Burn 03Human 04The Boldest DevastationPart 3 · Seeing with New Eyes
Ecological self, deep time, living systems. Recognise our embeddedness in the web of life. Expand beyond the isolated ego.
05It Will Find You 06To The Wild 07RootsPart 4 · Going Forth
Insight into intention. What is mine/ours to do? Grounded, proportionate, collective action.
08We Are The Future 09The Rain on the Ocean 10(We Are Not) The Wall (reprise)Parting Gifts
Close the space with solidarity, optimism and the promise to carry one another.
11The Spirit of the Sea 12The Long Way Back