Reasons for Hope

Growing up, I was lucky to have a Grandad whose life personified what it means to bring hope to the world.?

What he cared for was including the excluded. He was always there for people when everyone else had given up on them, and it has been overwhelming to have met many people who told me that his loving-kindness and dependability saved their life.?

What I admired about my Grandad was how joyful he was. He didn't concern himself with politics, ideologies, or opinions. Instead, he just got on with being a positive presence in the world.?

One of the things we do at the Shining Light Project is tell the stories and explore the ideas of the people and companies who, like my Grandad, are focused on doing what they can to build a more kind, equitable and sustainable world.?

We never have to look far to witness or experience unnecessary, human-made suffering. Even in the countries that are the most financially, technologically, medically and scientifically advanced, misery remains on our doorstep.?

As the great anthropologist and wartime reporter Sebastian Junger writes: "Although happiness is notoriously subjective and difficult to measure, mental illness is not. Numerous cross-cultural studies have shown that modern society—despite its nearly miraculous advances in medicine, science, and technology—is afflicted with some of the highest rates of depression, schizophrenia, poor health, anxiety, and chronic loneliness in human history. As affluence and urbanisation rise in a society, rates of depression and suicide tend to go up rather than down."

Whilst we may never be free of tyranny and unnecessary suffering, the blessing we have is that no matter how painful things become, we always get to choose our response. As the brilliant Maya Angelou said: “What you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. Don’t complain.”

Our interest at The Shining Light Project is to focus on our response to the pain and crises and how we turn the signs of decay into regeneration. And for me, this begins with hope. Concretely, it begins with what Joanna Macy and Chris Johnston call?Active Hope.?They write:

"Passive hope is about waiting for external agencies to bring about what we desire. If we only have passive hope, the world will unlikely change in the direction that we hope."?

"Active Hope is about becoming active participants in bringing about what we hope for. It is what we do, not what we think or wish for, that makes a difference. Since Active Hope doesn't require our optimism, we can apply it even when we feel hopeless. We choose what we aim to bring about, act for or express rather than weighing up our chances and proceeding only when we feel hopeful. Instead, we focus on our intention and let it be our guide."

We can always have reasons for hope because we have it in our hands to be the change that we want to be in the world. And in a world where there can be much negativity, I hope what I publish here inspires you to have a greater hope and, even more so, propels you into action and provides you with some of the tools, ideas and connections you need to support you in the path.

Thanks for reading, and take care.

Benjamin

March 2023

I would like to wholeheartedly thank the 781 people who have signed up for this community so far. It is incredibly humbling.