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A Different Kind of Hope

By January 26, 2025No Comments

As Imbolc season approaches, I have been thinking about hope, my theme for the ceremony and the days that follow. I will be honest, hope, as I usually engage with it, is difficult to find and, when I do, seems lacking in any meaning. That kind of hope feels like nothing more than wishful thinking. The news is full of genocidal wars, urban wildfires, droughts, attacks on immigrants and trans people. Humans seem to have a complete disregard for the effects of continued use of fossil fuels and the impact of our activities on wildlife. How can hope be found in that?

I am grateful for squirrels, including this eastern grey squirrel who is a frequent visitor to my feeders.

I have been reading Active Hope by Buddhist and deep ecology activist, Joanna Macy, and resilience trainer, Chris Johnstone, for one of my graduate school classes this semester. They talk about how most of us watch the news with all of its evidence of imminent catastrophe and still just go along with business as usual. There is, however, potential for revolution – if we can find the courage to undertake it.

A different kind of hope is required for this revolution. In Active Hope, Macy defines active hope as “identifying the outcomes we hope for and then playing a role in moving toward them1.” There is no guarantee of success. In fact, it is unlikely I will see the final outcome within my lifetime. I have decided, though, to commit to the practices recommended in Active Hope, beginning with gratitude and engaging with the grief I feel as rainforests are clear cut and species disappear. The practice of hope has become my intention for 2025, but it is a different kind of hope that leads to action.

 

  1. Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone, Active Hope (California: New World Library, 2022), p 37.