100 places to find hope in 2018
“There’s no hope.” “There’s every hope!” “It’ll all be fine.” “Except the sky will fall in by the end of January.”
In 2017 I had lots of fascinating discussions about hope as part of the book tour for my thriller, We Know What We Are. People found hope in good conversation, in making connections, in the love and support of friends and colleagues. Others found hope in opposition and down the pub.
Writing a novel with a hopeful aspect to it tested my own thinking on the subject. I’m not usually a list person but I challenged myself to write a list of 100 places to find hope in 2018. Admittedly I had a head-start on this task – but thought I’d start the year by sharing a few of my favourite hopeful places.
i) Hope in uncertainty – Life isn’t fixed or inevitable. Possibility lives in the grey areas, not the black or white. I don’t know what will happen and I definitely don’t want the future to be the same as the past. Uncertainty is where we can make change, experiment and be creative.
As a writer, I can’t ever be sure that what I write will come out well. If I was, I’d either be kidding myself or it would be boring or safe. Equally if I believed it would all end badly I’d never put pen to paper. There’s always the chance it might touch somebody and that it could even be great, who’s to say?
ii) The rebellion – I find hope in standing together to shout when something’s wrong. The #metoo movement in 2017 was so important. I also went on the massive impromptu women’s demo to protest against Donald Trump’s sexist attitudes. It was awesome, yet people in the US still voted for him. As a half-full kind of person, I know life isn’t all bad, but when it’s appalling, I find the motivation to get active.
I also love writing rebellious characters, outsiders who question the status quo. I find hope in sharing different understandings of any problem, looking under the surface of issues and telling it as I see it.
iii) The work – If hope is what gets me to start any project, I’ve learnt that it’s hard work that makes the difference. Writer and activist James Baldwin said, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
Sticking at a project pays dividends. Books get written, services get delivered and the work done for free by people in communities up and down the country because they believe in it, always gives me hope.
In 2018 I’ll be collaborating on more stories and developing at least three new book projects. I’ve registered Shared Press (our publishing imprint) as a Community Interest Company and will be supporting more people to tell their stories. I’ll keep working towards making a TV series of my first novel Hard Change (there is a script now and a schedule, if not a fully funded programme!) And I’ve signed up to a sculpture course. Whatever I produce it’ll have something inherently wobbly about it and I’ll probably love the process if not the results.
Here’s hoping we’ll connect in some way this year and I look forward to finding out more about your hopes too.
Dawn
(And for anyone who likes lists –here’s my top 100 places to find hope… not in order except for the end?!!)
100 places to find hope – from where I sit…
- In being together – and in being alone, in quiet reflection
- In changing course, being flexible, evolving
- In moving – escaping my office/spare room and experiencing other places/cultures
- In being mindful – which for me is making a great breakfast everyday
- In our good intentions – which we all have, even when we get it wrong
- In our ability to heal ourselves – mental and physical healing
- In letting go of things… like duty or ego – it’s a work in progress
- In learning – I love learning, fishing for new ideas and seeking out new stuff
- In shining/letting your light shine
- In really connecting – and in the super-connectors who make it easier for the rest of us
- In laughing – because and about our mad world
- In being the same as everyone else and different too
- In accepting what is and that I’m part of it, good or bad,
- In touching, I love shaking hands or the clumsy half hug/embrace of a colleague
- In being well, and being ok for now– in living pain-free
- In the mess of life, it’s where creativity starts/thrives
- In creating meaning/s – thinking critically, sharing understandings, applying our own filters
- In uncertainty – where there’s space for different endings, for movement
- In opposition – in the courageous people who organise, agitate, don’t accept the status quo
- In anger – there can be passion and the potential for release (not when it’s expressed as violence.)
- In expression/our voices matter – #metoo is a powerful e.g. of being heard, individually and collectively
- In sharing vulnerability – because we all wobble and although difficult talking about my emotions can be hard, it makes the tough stuff is bearable and it builds trust
- In creativity – in everyone’s ability to think creatively and to make creative choices
- In sharing the load – I’m confident in the knowledge that other good people are thinking about the big problems in the world that I care about and can’t always imagine a solution to
- In seeing and seeing through – that we are all becoming more conscious of how we see what we see
- In collaboration – together we are stronger, it’s always true
- In conversations – that get under the surface
- In being surprised and being wrong
- In ideas – theories of change, sociology, philosophy and experimentation
- In the image – in visual communication
- In our individual and collective imaginations – to see ourselves in a better world we can create
- In the vibrations –that we give off and sense, in trusting our gut feelings
- In a fragmented and flexible sense of the self – I’m trying to hold on lightly to the things that make me me (and I’m hoping that my alter ego’s will teach me more about myself?!)
- In human nature – the bit about us that recognises our interdependence
- In doubt and fear – because they stretch us, give us useful information and remind us we’re human
- In the potential to live life well and the potential to begin again, to re-imagine myself
- In the balance shifting – as it will, as it must
- In our differences – which I love and aren’t as big as we like to think they are
- In forgiveness – in our ability to forgive each other & in the hope you forgive me
- In international solidarity – with people around the world, the friends I haven’t met yet
- In those fighting for liberation and self-determination – and the small successes that we can grow
- In teenagers – who think and do amazing things, including volunteering in local library projects and reading to younger kids
- In young people – who do inspiring things
- In third agers – people who continue to volunteer in their 70’s
- In the anarchists and ecologists – small and somewhat chaotic things matter
- In the people that lived here before me and succeeded in creating the Islington Eco Centre
- In Jeremy Corbyn – as a principled and passionate politician (and the good women of the Women’s Equality Party and the active collaborators of the Progressive Alliance)
- In the work – that we all do to make things happen/to live life
- In the fantastic community responses to tragedies in 2017 – here in Finsbury park and across London, the Jo Cox meet-ups, the Grenfell survivors and too many to mention
- In the team – the awesome Malawi netball team
- In people trying to change the system from within – the heavy lifters
- And in people outside trying to change it too
- In those trying to bridge/cross communities
- In the existing green shoots of change – examples everywhere spread inspiration
- In the collective – never under-estimate the power of a small group of people to change the world
- In those who endure and continue the fight – like the Gay and Lesbian Society Zimbabwe
- In sport – especially at grass roots
- In the supporters – of competitors and of fan owned clubs like FCUnited amongst others
- In the carers
- In the healers
- In the volunteers
- In the men that are feminists
- In art – and the artists who manage an artistic life
- In taking control of the means of production – the indie-authors, musicians et al
- In families of all sorts /shapes and sizes
- In the good people who work in public services, their amazing ability to hold it together and make positive change
- In social workers, planners , front-line staff – all the under-valued & under-staffed
- In the regeneration of places – Like The Piece Hall
- In our ability to deal with crisis – and the specialists involved in London Bridge/Manchester
- In the ability of leaders to let go of command and control
- In the queuing to get on the train –there is hope in order
- In democracy – because it’s the best of the worst system
- And in local democracy – because it really matters
- In town halls! And anything that supports/contributes to/ makes visible civic life
- In the Nolan principles – and everyone who lives the standards in public life
- In letting people choose – both individuals and subsidiarity (at the lowest possible level)
- In partnerships – too many good examples – that’s for another blog
- In education for all about everything
- In writing – the ordering of thoughts on the page
- In the dance /movement to convey things – the first world war piece by Akram Kahn &DV8
- In alternatives – it doesn’t have to be like this
- In those that don’t fit in
- In creativity in unexpected places
- And in surprising allies
- In cities like Nottingham and Wolverhampton (and those outside the core cities movement)
- In the spoken word – especially the inspiring Kate Tempest
- In the collaboration – the magic mix of artists and scientists
- In the shadow – the dark side of everything that’s always with us
- In reading quietly – the beauty of the word
- In laughing loudly
- In the story – of course
- In justice and equality
- In the chain passed down – the work that went before so that we can continue
- In everyday resilience
- In getting to the starting line
- In being kind.
- In being alive, right here, right now.
- In hope itself
- In love
- …And in you.
(the photo is a card that came from a friend who sings in the fantastic and hopeful @commonerschoir)