In Healing the Heart of Democracy, Parker J. Palmer reminds us that democracy is not sustained primarily by systems or structures, but by the condition of the human heart. When fear, pain, and division go unexamined, they harden into habits that fracture our relationships and our communities. Yet when we tend the inner life with honesty and courage, something else becomes possible.
As Palmer writes:
“Democracy is a form of community, and its vitality depends on the quality of our relationships—on how well we attend to one another, especially when we disagree.”
This Circle of Trust® experience invites participants into that kind of attentive community. Rather than debating ideas or trying to fix what is broken, we gather to practice the inner disciplines that make democracy possible: listening beyond our certainty, speaking from lived experience, and staying present with difference without retreating into fear or force.
Together, we will explore the Five Habits of the Heart that Make Democracy Possible, engaging both solitude and shared reflection as we consider how these habits live within us—and how they shape the way we show up in our homes, our communities, and the wider world. This work is not about taking sides; it is about taking responsibility for the inner ground from which our actions grow.
“The human heart is the first home of democracy. It is where we embrace our own shadows and learn to hold tension creatively, making room for both suffering and joy.”
— Parker J. Palmer, Healing the Heart of Democracy
This circle offers a chance to practice that holding—together.
The Center for Courage & Renewal and its facilitators do not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression, age, height, weight, physical or mental ability, veteran status, military obligations, and marital status.
