Vision

We envision a planet where people and wounded places are reconciled through acceptance, compassion, and acts of beauty.

A world where no part of the Earth is alienated from those who love it.

In this way, we recognize that all of nature is part of the cycle of life.

Mission

Our mission is to deeply connect with natural places that have been damaged through human or natural acts.

Spending time in wounded places, we expose our hearts to difficult feelings of loss and guilt; listen to the land and to one another; and open ourselves to possibilities for finding and creating beauty there.

Radical Joy Values

We can’t wait to love the places we’re losing.

People

Partners

Thank you to our Radical Joy partners!

We are so grateful to have had the support of many outstanding organizations in planning and carrying out our mission. These spiritual, environmental, and human rights organizations are doing incredible work in the world. Click on the logos below to visit their websites.

RadJoy Bird

Here’s how the bird came to be our symbol.

RadJoy Bird

Three days into the very first Radical Joy for Hard Times board meeting in 2009, one of our members suggested that we stop talking and instead try to arrive at our shared vision by making art together. We stuck several large sheets of paper together, then we all worked in silence, each person moving around the paper, drawing, pasting, writing, embellishing.

RadJoy BirdMaking a RadJoy Bird out of found materials—twigs, stones, leaves, sand, even trash—is the gift that many people offer to the hurt places they visit.

When we finished, we carried the painting outside to a little park across the street. At first no one could make any sense of it. Then Noah Crowe stood on top of a picnic table and exclaimed, “It’s a bird!” Instantly we all saw it: a crazy bird facing all the dark stuff of wounded places and striding into it, singing.

Every time people make the RadJoy Bird for a damaged place, they bring a spirit of joy, boldness, and transcendence both to themselves and to their place.