Environmental and other nonprofit activists often confront what Parker Palmer referred to as a loss of heart, particularly where working conditions challenge the capacity of practitioners to sustain their commitment. The purpose of this qualitative study was to better understand the process of learning and self-renewal in the lives of experienced and committed environmental activists. Findings suggest that their lives are characterized by struggles that represent a profound form of learning, involving recognition and understanding of one’s work as a calling or vocation as well as exemplifying the kind of transformative learning reflected in Jung’s concept of individuation.
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