ENVIRONMENT
The Misconception of Hope and Healing the World
If we diminish the flame then we are only left in darkness
“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul — and sings the tunes without the words — and never stops at all.” — Emily Dickinson
What would happen if we removed all the hopeful people in the world?
Our media is already so depressing. Imagine if there were no positive voices to offer some balance. What if the only messaging each day was about the end of the world, no one cares, life is meaningless, and we are just going to die so what is the point?
This isn’t so far-fetched if you spend any time watching the news or reading social media. If an alien landed on Earth and spent thirty minutes watching the BBC, CNN, Fox, and Al Jazeera, they would flee in an instant. Sadly, we can’t flee from the onslaught of the media, politicians, and corporations that feed this beast.
But weaved through the profusion of stories of doom are stories of hope and goodness. Through the cacophony of hate and vitriol are quieter, gentler voices.
These are the true voices of humanity. What if these views ceased?
What if there was no hope?
My older friend, Leonard, died recently.
He was ninety, legally blind, and the cancer had spread throughout his body. He felt it was time to go so he planned his medically assisted death. I said goodbye to him for the last time four days before his passing.
It was an honor to call him my friend. I miss him. But it was a miracle I ever met him.
Leonard was not breathing when he entered the world. The doctors declared him dead and his little body lay next to his mother. Medical experts and scientists confirmed that he was not for this world.
But one elderly woman standing in the back of the room did not accept his death. His grandma approached the table and began CPR on the newborn. The lifeless body took a breath, stretched his limbs, and cried out. The medical staff was shocked.
If it wasn’t for his grandma seeing the faint, diminishing light on the table, he never would have come into the world.
Against all odds, she saved him. Her actions gave the world three children and five grandchildren through Leonard. She gave me a friend.
One person saw hope. And many benefitted.
It is easy to lose sight of the light in the darkness.
Oceans and rivers are polluted. We are cutting down the forests. Cities are choking on smog. Landfills are spilling over. The weather has grown more erratic.
The climate discussion alone is enough to drive anyone to live in a hole and never want to come out. Many have given up, some don’t want to bring children into the world.
How do we fight against catastrophic thinking that paints a world of doom and gloom?
In the jungles of Bali is Green School, an environmentally oriented school made of bamboo. It is a weird little place. While internationally recognized and world-famous, children run around without shoes, no grades are given until high school, students eat with their hands off of bamboo leaves, they climb coconut trees, and there is no air conditioning for the students.
A few years ago when I was the Director of the school, we had a journalist from Der Spiegel, one of the largest magazines in Europe, visit. He was at the end of a two-week trip where he was attending environmental conferences around the region.
He was a very busy man. We had a very tight one-hour meeting scheduled. We sat down promptly and I explained about Green School. He took notes, asked questions. As we approached the hour, I asked if he needed to go. He glanced at his watch and motioned for me to continue. We spoke for another hour and said goodbye to each other as he had to leave.
The next day I saw him sitting in our central bamboo structure, the Heart of School. I was surprised to see him. He said he came back to talk with a few more people. He then stayed for an additional day.
I sat with him after his few days to wrap up and answer final questions. He said to me:
“Chris, I travel the world going from conference to conference on environmentalism. They are working on exactly the same issues as you and your staff and the students but all they do is complain and blame. I come here and I see all the work your kids are getting done and how they are changing the world for the better. They have hope and they are happy. It’s unlike anything I have ever seen.”
I nodded as I had heard this story thousands of times from visitors, teachers, and parents.
The difference is hope.
Jane Goodall is one of the world’s most celebrated primatologists and conservationists. Goodall was fascinated by animals from a young age.
She began her groundbreaking research on chimpanzees in Tanzania’s Gombe Stream Game Reserve in 1960. Throughout her career, Goodall worked to protect chimpanzees and their habitats. She founded the Jane Goodall Institute in 2002, which supports chimpanzee conservation efforts around the world. Goodall has a relentless pursuit of hope and a passion for inspiring young people to make a difference.
Dr. Jane, as she asked me to call her, came to Green School. Like all other visitors, she was amazed that the images online paled in comparison to the natural beauty of the real campus.
Dr. Jane is hard-pressed to spend half a day in any location. She spent five days with us. She met every one of our 500 hundred students and gave talks, lectures, and the graduation speech.
At the end of her speech where she mimicked the calls of various primates, I met her in front of the bamboo stage on the lawn. She was giddy and started to jokingly jog around me.
An 80-year-old woman was fighting hourly to preserve nature, and she was happy, laughing, and hopeful. She said to me that she wished she had a school like Green School when she was younger. Dr. Jane once said:
“Hope is often misunderstood. People tend to think that it is simply passive wishful thinking: I hope something will happen but I’m not going to do anything about it. This is indeed the opposite of real hope, which requires action and engagement.”
We can be hopeful and act. We can be happy as we pick up the garbage.
It is our choice. The only difference is whether the corners of our mouths are going up or down.
I understand the frustration and desperation in the world. My work is in the environment, education, and social support. I live in Bali and watch as people in front of me throw their garbage onto the side of the road and into the rivers.
Somedays I just shake my head and wonder why Mother Nature keeps us around. But these moments are short-lived as they serve no purpose. And there is too much good in the world to stop fighting for it.
The misconception of hope is that it leads to inaction. That isn’t hope, that is laziness and avoidance.
Being hopeful is not being blind.
We can be hopeful and we can take action.
Most act for a better future. But if we keep telling our children there is no future then why should they do anything more than retreat to their screens and addictions?
Once we lose hope, we lose everything. Children are filled with hope.
Let us not diminish their flame.
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