A Note on Hope

and ways to practice growing your own

Do not allow your hope to come only from external events and small victories. Hope like this leaves you impotent between its sporadic drips, fueled only by the present moment.

This is unsustainable.

Hope is not a moment to cling to, it is something we make.

Each of us is the hope of our ancestors. We carry their dreams, their fears, their trauma - whether we know them or not, our bodies remember. Their hope is alive in us. An abundant spring of body knowledge we may yet to understand.

Sustainable hope comes from memory - that sacred knowing the ruling class works to make us forget.

If this year has shown us anything, it is that we are the force bringing that brighter future within reach. The dream is alive because the dream is us.

No more waiting from one drip to the next. Let the spring feed a river that carries us home.

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Body Memory Hope Tending Practices

Move your body joyfully

Dance, laugh, breathe deep on purpose. Find what feels good.

Notice and listen to gut feelings

Both your “absolutely not” and your “hell yes.” Let your “no” be loud.

Read

books, read poems, listen to music, watch films. Learn about the ancestors - they don’t have to be your ancestors to learn from them.

Listen to the stories of people from now

and believe them. Let them change you.

Make intuitive art

even if you don’t consider yourself and artist. Color a coloring page. Collage. Play an instrument. Set a timer and write for the whole time, allowing whatever comes out. Release the idea of making something “good” and let your body lead the way.

Write down what you witness

Begin a practice of memory keeping. Document what will be, or already is being, erased. Names. Stories. What must be remembered?

Tend to your spirit

Make your spirituality a regular practice. Move beyond only caring for your physical body. What does your spirit need?

Talk to friends

about what they do to honor ancestral memory. Do not let this be a solitary endeavor. Pose questions and allow time to think and discuss.

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Memory erasure is a tool of white supremacist colonization because memory is one of the most powerful sources of hope. And hope is one of the most powerful sources of resistance.

Do not wait for excuses to allow yourself to feel hope. Grow your own. Tend to it daily.