As we start this new academic year, many of us are experiencing a fragile state of being. We are returning to classes, offices, meetings and meals in person and living in a kind of anxiety ridden reality. In the midst of all this, I continue to feel hopeful and that alone, feels odd. It is very tempting to dismiss hope right now. The list of reasons for such a dismissal seems endless and we are hurting. The devastation of natural disasters, a prolonged global pandemic that has stripped us of loved ones, of community, of livelihoods and so much more, the deeply critical work that remains to be done to counter white supremacy and fight racial injustice, countries destroyed by war, the absolute vulnerability of our planet and a widening alienation between communities. The list goes on.
It is understandable to scratch one’s head when it comes to hope and it would be a mistake to think it simply appears bidden or not. However, it would also be a mistake to think we do not have hand in creating hope if we train ourselves to pay very close attention to the present. The present can be miraculous; just look around, observe the little meetable needs. Small acts of kindness, gentle listening, sweet silliness and freeing generosity are all good places to start.
Howard Zinn, the late American historian, author, playwright, and social activist had seen a lot of pain and injustice in his time on earth and yet he maintained a realistic hopefulness about life and encouraged his students to live in the present with great hope. I found his brief reflection written years ago to be a simple, yet solid argument for hope and reminder that while creating hope is not easy, it can be incredible.
“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. If we remember those times and places—and there are so many—where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.” -Howard Zinn
We do not know how this semester will unfold, but we do know how to create hope. Let’s start, right now, in this present.