I worry about American policies and actions that seem to be leaving people behind communities and neighbors I care about, with a concentration of wealth wielding outsize power over our lives. It makes my social work heart cringe and strains my desire for fair play. I want to honor the dignity and worth of all people with compassion. Since I tend to be temperamentally optimistic, seeing the glass half full, I sometimes frustrate my friends and colleagues who acknowledge the bad parts with a more pessimistic view. However, I tend to be stubborn, so I am still grabbing and holding tight to hope.
I’ve been particularly sensitive to “hope” references that I hear now. There seem to be a lot of them (maybe because I’m looking?) Here are some of my favorites:
What is hope?
- C Rick Snyder: A psychologist who proposes his theory of hope as an active choice that requires goals, capacity, and motivation aimed at making a better future. He encourages people to cultivate hope through daily practice of intentional, goal directed behavior that utilizes positive self-talk, small goals, and persistence. (therapy perspective)
- President Obama: When dedicating his new presidential center in Chicago recently, he described how he witnessed the courage, resilience, and hope of those he served; qualities that made his work worthwhile and sustained him throughout his career in public service. He witnessed the spirit of people, who, no matter what they had suffered, found a way through and maintained hope for a better tomorrow. And since service is a two-way street (the more you give, the more you get), he aspired to be worthy of the hope he felt in his community and country. (human relationships)
- Ryan Dowd, (JD, MPA): As a trainer for staff who interact with unhoused persons such as in libraries and shelters, he learns from people who are unhoused, people who have next to nothing and every reason to lose all hope; yet they often still seem able to find it. (miracles)
- Paul Asplund: He focuses on homelessness as a community organizer with Second Grace Los Angeles and tries to be a change agent. He talks of “radical hope” or the choice to see reality with all its difficulties, heartbreak, and human suffering but keep to his purpose as a lifeline for others. (spiritual purpose)
- Howard Zinn: A historian who tells our stories. “To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. (choices)
- Rebecca Solnit: “Your opponents would love you to believe that it’s hopeless, that you have no power, that there’s no reason to act, that you can’t win. Hope is a gift you don’t have to surrender, a power you don’t have to throw away.” ((Hope in the Dark, The Untold History of People Power, 2004) (a powerful gift)
- Nelson Mandela: who has recommended that ” your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.” (empowerment)
Apparently, hope is catching and infectious. It can be found in unexpected places. It can grow inside and out. It inspires us. Let’s meditate on that; focus on the beautiful foundation embodied by this wisdom and the gift it represents, the source of life-giving energy!
Come along with me to do some world building!! 🙂