Thomas Steininger in dialogue with Roshi Joan Halifax

For many of us, the care and concern that we feel about the state of the world comes at a price. It’s hard not to feel outrage or helplessness in response to the fires-both actual fires and the emotional heat of polarization. Even our best impulses can turn against us. As Roshi Joan Halifax notes, empathy can turn into distress, integrity into moral suffering, and engagement can result in overwork and burnout. How do we find wholesome and transformative ways to respond to this overwhelm?

Roshi Joan Halifax is a Zen priest, an anthropologist, and a pioneer in the field of end-of-life care. She is Abbot of Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In her new book, Standing at the Edge: Finding Freedom Where Fear and Courage Meet, she discusses the “edge” between appropriate and necessary care of others and “falling off or over the edge” into apathy or distress.

This week in Radio evolve, Thomas Steininger talks with Joan Halifax about an authentic and full-hearted response to our world – where fear and courage meet.