Why Changing the World May Begin With Reconnecting to Ourselves

What if one of the first steps towards changing the world is not to look outward, but inward?

In his new book, Regenerating an Unravelling World: The Sacred Challenges of the Warrior Activist, psychotherapist and spiritual educator Serge Beddington-Behrens explores a question that sits at the heart of his approach to Sacred Activism: how can people genuinely take a stand for the world if they have become disconnected from themselves, from others and from life itself?

For Beddington-Behrens, activism is not simply about having strong opinions or reacting to events. It begins with connection.

And that can make personal transformation far more important to social change than it first appears.

The Problem of Feeling Disconnected

Modern life can make disconnection remarkably easy.

People can become disconnected from their emotions, their sense of purpose, other people and even from the wider world around them. They may continue working, communicating and functioning every day while feeling increasingly detached from their own experience.

Beddington-Behrens sees this as more than a personal difficulty.

If people become disconnected from what they feel and from the people around them, it becomes harder to be genuinely moved by suffering, injustice or the problems facing society.

The result can be a strange contradiction: living in a world full of crises while feeling personally removed from them.

From “Disconnector” to “Reconnector”

In Regenerating an Unravelling World, Beddington-Behrens openly reflects on his own experience of disconnection.

He describes himself as a “disconnector in recovery”, recalling a period when he felt shut down and detached from his own life.

His first motivation was not to become an activist.

It was much more personal.

He wanted to feel less distant, less asleep and more fully alive.

This becomes an important part of his argument because the book does not present Sacred Activism as something that begins once a person has achieved perfect spiritual awareness.

Instead, the journey starts by recognising where disconnection exists and beginning to change it.

Why Connection Matters to Activism

For Beddington-Behrens, connection is directly linked to our ability to take courageous stands.

If we genuinely care about a cause, we have to be capable of being touched by it.

A person who feels connected to the natural world may find it increasingly difficult to ignore environmental destruction.

Someone who feels connected to other human beings may become more sensitive to poverty, violence or exclusion.

And someone who feels deeply connected to democratic values may be more willing to defend them when they are threatened.

Connection therefore creates involvement.

It moves a person from watching the world to participating in it.

Coming Back to Ourselves

One of the most personal ideas running through the book is that reconnection can feel like a kind of homecoming.

Before asking what we can do for society, Beddington-Behrens encourages readers to consider whether they are actually in touch with themselves.

Are we aware of what we feel?

Do we know what matters to us?

Have we become so accustomed to distraction that we rarely experience stillness?

And are we aware of how our own disconnection affects the way we relate to other people?

These questions may sound personal, but they have wider consequences.

A society is ultimately made up of individuals and relationships. If those individuals are increasingly disconnected, it becomes difficult to create a genuinely connected society.

From Outsider to Participant

Beddington-Behrens describes Sacred Activism as a movement away from being an “outsider” and towards becoming an “insider”.

This does not mean accepting everything that happens in the world.

It means recognising that we are part of the world we want to change.

The political, environmental and social problems surrounding us are not simply external events happening to other people. They are part of the same reality in which we live.

Once that becomes clear, responsibility changes.

Instead of asking only, “Who is going to fix this?”, we can begin asking, “What can I contribute?”

That question is central to Beddington-Behrens’ idea of the warrior activist.

Reconnection Does Not Mean Retreat

Importantly, the emphasis on inner work is not an invitation to withdraw from the world.

Beddington-Behrens argues almost the opposite.

He challenges the idea that spiritual awakening should mean becoming detached from everyday problems. For him, genuine spiritual development should make people more sensitive to suffering and more motivated to help create a healthier and more harmonious world.

This is where spirituality and activism meet.

The purpose of reconnecting with ourselves is not to escape reality.

It is to become more capable of engaging with it.

A Different Starting Point for Social Change

There is something deliberately simple about this idea.

Changing the world can feel overwhelming.

Political systems are enormous. Environmental challenges are global. Social inequalities can seem deeply entrenched.

Beddington-Behrens does not suggest that one individual can solve all these problems.

Instead, he asks people to discover their own sphere of contribution.

That contribution might eventually become activism in the traditional sense. It might involve education, creativity, organising, investigation or creating new initiatives.

But it can begin much earlier.

It can begin with becoming more awake to our own lives and more connected to the people and world around us.

From Reconnection to Regeneration

The idea of reconnection ultimately feeds into the wider vision of Regenerating an Unravelling World.

Beddington-Behrens believes the current unravelling of society does not have to result in permanent decline. It can also become an opportunity for humanity to develop a different way of living—one based on greater consciousness, connection, compassion and responsibility.

For that transformation to happen, however, people have to participate in it.

The future cannot simply be left to political leaders, institutions or technology.

It also depends on the quality of the people who make up society.

Perhaps, then, the first question for anyone who wants to change the world is not what campaign to join or what problem to solve.

Perhaps it is something more fundamental:

Am I truly connected to the world I am trying to change?

And if the answer is no, perhaps the journey towards activism begins with finding our way back.