Envisioning Liberated Futures and Writing Them Into Being
How Do We Imagine a Better Future When So Much Around Us Is Falling Apart?
We hear a great deal about what the future might look like if things continue as they are: worsening climate disasters, political instability, growing inequality, and communities struggling to survive.
These concerns are real. They deserve our attention, our grief, and our response.
But when so much of our attention is focused on what might be lost, it can become difficult to imagine what else might be possible. What kinds of communities could we build if we weren't bound by the assumptions and systems we've inherited? How might we live differently with one another and with the Earth?
Imagining a different future begins with questioning the one we've been taught to expect.
Join Rev. Maks Kopish and Reina-Shay Broussard for a four-week workshop exploring the relationship between imagination, spiritual visioning, creative writing, and social and ecological change.
Drawing on speculative fiction, Black, Queer, and Indigenous futurisms, prophetic traditions, and the wisdom of the living Earth, we'll explore how people have imagined possibilities beyond the circumstances of their time. Through guided meditation, reading, writing, music, and conversation, we'll make space for our own visions of more just, liberated, and regenerative futures.
We won't be asked to overlook suffering or replace difficult realities with positive thinking. Instead, we'll consider how grief, uncertainty, and a longing for change can become part of the creative process.
This is an invitation to practice imagining what comes next, together.
Tuesdays, March 2, 9, 16 & 23, 2027
7 PM – 9 PM ET
Live on Zoom · Recording included
General Public $160 · OSLA Affiliated Alumni $125
What We'll Explore
Apocalypse, Prophecy, and the Possibility of Change
What do stories of endings reveal about the societies that tell them?
We'll explore connections between apocalypse and prophecy, considering how periods of upheaval can expose the limitations of familiar systems and open questions about what might follow.
We'll also reflect on the role of prophetic witness: recognizing injustice, acknowledging suffering, and giving voice to the possibility of a different future. Drawing on Wayne Teasdale's interspiritual principle of prophetic voice, witness, and action, we'll consider how imagination can help us respond to the realities of our time.
Reconnecting With the Imaginal Mind
How do we access ideas and possibilities that our everyday thinking may overlook?
Through guided meditation, dreaming, and writing, we'll explore the imaginal mind as a source of creativity, insight, and spiritual reflection.
We'll consider perspectives from Unity, Science of Mind, and other traditions that explore the relationship between thought, intention, and the realities we participate in creating. Rather than trying to predict the future, we'll practice giving our imaginations room to explore possibilities that don't yet exist.
Imagining Liberated Futures
What can speculative fiction teach us about freedom, justice, and the possibilities of social change?
We'll engage with Black, Queer, and Indigenous futurisms alongside science fiction and prophetic traditions.
These approaches challenge assumptions about whose experiences matter, whose futures are imagined, and how societies might be organized differently. Through reading, conversation, and creative writing, we'll consider what liberation might mean in a world shaped by greater justice, belonging, and respect for difference.
Learning From the Living Earth
What might the Earth's regenerative processes teach us about human communities?
We'll explore ideas from agroecology, permaculture, and Indigenous land-management traditions, paying attention to the relationships that sustain living systems.
We'll consider how diversity, interdependence, and ecological resilience might inform the ways we organize our communities and care for one another. These perspectives will also become sources of inspiration for our writing and visioning.
What You'll Take Away
More Confidence in Your Creative Imagination
Develop greater trust in your capacity to envision possibilities beyond the circumstances of the present.New Approaches to Creative Writing
Practice descriptive and imaginative writing, using prompts and exercises to explore ideas, stories, and possible futures.A Broader Understanding of Prophecy and Futurism
Encounter different literary, spiritual, and cultural approaches to imagining change, including traditions that center liberation and ecological relationships.Practices You Can Continue
Explore grounding, meditation, dreaming, and writing practices that can help you return to creative reflection in your own time.Your Own Stories and Visions
Leave with writing, ideas, and questions that you can continue developing or bring into your personal life, community, and work.Connection With Others
Spend time with people who are also seeking ways to respond to uncertainty through imagination, reflection, and shared exploration.
How We’ll Learn Together
This workshop is designed as a reflective, retreat-like space where participants can step away from the constant demands of the news cycle and spend time reading, dreaming, and creating.
Maks and Reina-Shay will guide a combination of spiritual reflection, creative writing exercises, and group conversation. We'll engage with ideas from literature, prophetic traditions, and ecological thinking while making room for our own responses and imaginings.
During the workshop, you'll have opportunities to:
Read and discuss speculative fiction, futurist writing, and prophetic perspectives.
Reflect on the social and ecological conditions shaping our present moment.
Participate in grounding and guided meditation.
Experiment with dreaming, visioning, and descriptive writing.
Use music and doodling as part of creative exploration.
Share ideas and stories in small-group and full-group conversations.
Consider how ecological principles might inspire different ways of living.
We'll use Zoom chat and the online community board to support conversation and connection between sessions. Participants will receive book recommendations, creative writing tips, and meditation practices to continue exploring after the workshop.
Who Should Attend?
If You're Concerned About the Future
You may be carrying questions about climate change, political upheaval, injustice, or the future of our communities. Perhaps you're looking for a way to engage with those concerns that makes room for both grief and possibility. This workshop offers time to explore what you hope might change and what kinds of futures you want to imagine.
If You're Drawn to Writing, Dreams, or Spiritual Exploration
You may enjoy writing, journaling, meditation, or working with dreams. Or you may simply be curious about exploring your imagination in a more intentional way. You'll have opportunities to experiment with creative practices in a supportive group, whether you're an experienced writer or just beginning.
If You're Working Toward Social or Ecological Change
Ministers, spiritual companions, educators, organizers, caregivers, and others engaged in community or ecological work may find value in exploring the relationship between imagination and action. The workshop offers space to consider how new visions of justice, interdependence, and regeneration might inform the work you already do.
All Are Welcome
No previous creative writing experience is needed. You don't need to arrive with a finished idea, a particular spiritual belief, or a clear vision of the future. All are welcome, including One Spirit students, graduates, and people encountering our community for the first time, from any spiritual tradition or none at all.
About Your Facilitators
“It is only through dream, imagination, and creative visioning that we will make these better ways our reality. I’m offering this workshop because it’s what I need right now: dedicated time and space in community to remember and build ancient skills and capacities within us, with the hope of bringing a brighter and more liberated future into being through collective envisioning. Participants will gain a sense of their own power to imagine and create, and a community of people to dream, write, and share stories with.”
—Rev. Maks & Rev. Reina-Shay
Rev. Maks Kopish (they/them), is a writer, death doula, and eco-chaplain exploring the relationship between reality, myth, and mind through the lens of bio-mysticism.
Their ministry focuses on healing what they describe as the primal wound of separation: the belief that humanity exists apart from the living world.
Maks draws on the teachings of Indigenous educators and the wisdom they find in fungi, trees, and the cycles of nature. Their work invites people to remember their place within the web of life and consider what it means to live in relationship with the Earth.
Through writing, spiritual care, and ecological reflection, Maks explores how awareness of collapse might become an invitation to imagine and practice different ways of living.
Rev. Reina-Shay Broussard (she/her), is a writer, editor, creative writing instructor, and certified Unity teacher with an MFA.
Her work brings together writing, teaching, and spiritual exploration.
In this workshop, she brings her experience in creative writing and instruction to help participants develop their ideas, experiment with language, and give shape to their visions through storytelling.
Together, Maks and Reina-Shay will guide a space for reading, dreaming, writing, and conversation, drawing on their shared interest in imagination as a way of exploring what might become possible.
Registration Details
What Your Registration Includes
Four live, interactive sessions with Rev. Maks Kopish and Reina-Shay Broussard.
Workshop recordings for each week, accessible through June 30, 2027.
Guided meditation, dreaming, and creative visioning.
Creative writing instruction, prompts, and exercises.
Readings and discussions exploring futurism, prophecy, and ecological regeneration.
Book recommendations, creative writing tips, and meditation resources.
Opportunities for small-group conversation and community connection.
Registration Pricing
Public: $160 · OSLA Affiliated Alumni: $125
Taking more than one workshop? Buy 3, save 15%. Buy 4, save 20%!
Discount applied automatically at checkout.OSLA Alumni: Log in to your OSLA Portal to apply your affiliate discount.
Not affiliated yet? Learn More about Affiliation
After You Register
You'll receive a confirmation email with instructions for accessing the workshop's Hylo Course Board, where you'll find the course Zoom link and workshop materials.
Can't attend live? The recording will be available within 72 hours of the workshop to the Hylo Course Board.
Questions? Contact help@1spirit.org.
