"Apatheia is a Greek word that means, literally, nonsuffering. …
[A]pathy is the inability or refusal to experience pain. What is the pain we feel—and desperately try not to feel—in this planet-time? …[I]t pertains not just to privations of wealth, health, reputation, or loved ones, but also to losses so vast we can hardly name them. …That pain is the price of consciousness in a threatened and suffering world. It is not only natural, it is an absolutely necessary component of our collective healing. As in all organisms, pain has a purpose: it is a warning signal, designed to trigger remedial action. The problem, therefore, lies not with our pain for the world, but in our repression of it. Our efforts to dodge or dull it surrender us to futility—or in systems’ terms, cut the feedback loop and block effective response"
Joanna Macy & Molly Young Brown
