Della Duncan on right livelihood & finding your purpose
Season 1, Episode 2
WAYFINDING series
How can we live in a way that is both aligned in what matters most to us and is responsive to what is needed in the world today?
Della Duncan, renegade economist, eco-spiritual educator, and host of the Upstream podcast, has spent her life exploring this question. Her path has taken her from conventional economics to Schumacher College, the teachings of Joanna Macy and the Work That Reconnects, and ultimately toward a vision of economics anchored in right livelihood, a topic that she helps people explore in her role as a Right Livelihood Coach.
In this conversation, Della shares her own wayfinding journey and what it means to orient a life around ecological values. We explore the pillars of the Great Turning, the idea of a “livelihood garden,” and Frederick Buechner’s invitation to look for where “the world’s great hunger and your great gladness meet.” We ask what nature might teach us about who we are, what it means to cultivate a livelihood that nourishes rather than depletes, and how we can listen for the work that is ours to do.
Links:
Schumacher College - holistic, ecological, transformative and transdisciplinary education
Joanna Macy's Work that Reconnects - a form of group work designed to foster the desire and ability to take part in the healing of our world
Naropa University - Buddhist-inspired contemplative education
Spirit Rock - Buddhist meditation retreat center in California
Music by Sunsette - check it out!
Della's full bio:
Della Z Duncan guides journeys upstream to the root causes of the challenges of our time to empower us to realize and re-member who we are, why we are here and how we can contribute to the Great Turning. As a Renegade Economist, plants in her regenerative livelihood garden include hosting the Upstream Podcast challenging mainstream economic thinking through documentaries and conversations including The Green Transition: The Problem with Green Capitalism and The Myth of Freedom Under Capitalism, supporting individuals as a Right Livelihood Coach, co-founding and co-directing the California Doughnut Economics Coalition which just released a Doughnut Snapshot of the state of California, helping transition businesses and organizations to post capitalism, and teaching and facilitating courses and retreats on Buddhist Economics, the Work that Reconnects, and Regenerative Economics including the annual Regenerative and Cooperative Economic Design Course and the Cultivating Regenerative Livelihoods Course through Gaia Education.
Della is also the Course Development Manager of Fritjof Capra’s Capra Course on the Systems View of Life, a founding member of the California Doughnut Economics Coalition, a Senior Fellow of Social and Economic Equity at the London School of Economics, a Gross National Happiness Master Trainer, and a Senior Lecturer of Renegade Economics and Regenerative Livelihoods at the California Institute of Integral Studies, Santa Cruz Permaculture, Vital Cycles Permaculture, and Gaia Education. She holds an MA in Economics for Transition with Distinction from Schumacher College, a BA in International Relations and Sociology with highest honors from the University of California, Davis, a graduate certificate in Authentic Leadership from Naropa University, and has completed Joanna Macy’s Work that Reconnects Intensive Program.
