HOW TO FIND DEFIANT HOPE IN UNCERTAIN TIMES

What’s the expression? – ‘If you’re not angry, you’re not paying attention.’ I know that if you’re here, you’re paying attention and angry doesn’t even begin to over it. It feels like the world is on fire in every sense of the word – from the climate crisis to utterly avoidable global conflicts to people having their rights, identities and dignity stripped from them in new and freshly hellish ways on the daily. It’s all too much, and it can be hard to know how to feel, let alone how to respond. What are we supposed to do?

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What are we supposed to do?

You feel simultaneously furious and terrified that world leaders are making such morally reprehensible decisions while you are trying so hard to do the right thing.

You’ve stopped watching or reading the news because it is so overwhelming (but it still finds you via social media, leaving you spiralling in a doomscroll hangover.)

You feel powerless and overwhelmed, and like nothing you could do will make a difference, so what’s the point in trying? You are frozen in despair and it feels like crap.

And worse, as a purpose-driven artist, writer or creative entrepreneur, you can't just dial it in. You need defiant hope so that you can take action every day – not just to bring about a better world – but to make a living.

So what are you supposed to do?

The answer lies in choosing defiant hope.

You need to reconnect with your optimism so you can move out of despair and into action.

When I say ‘defiant hope’ I am not talking about passive optimism or naive faith. I’m talking about waking up every morning and, despite all evidence to the contrary, choosing to believe a better world is possible, and then taking action to make it happen.

Because if we don’t believe in a better world, how are we going to change anything? Defiant hope is the precursor to aligned action (and helpfully, aligned action feeds defiant hope).

INTRODUCING: CULTIVATING HOPE — A MINI-COURSE THAT WILL HELP YOU TO:

1. Work through the feelings that are keeping you stuck and move them out of your body so you can get out of ‘fight, flight or freeze’ mode and into a calm and connected state.
2. Reconnect with nature and spend time engaging with the more-than-human world in a way that reminds you that we’re all connected and inspires you to take action.
3. Find actions that align with what you’re good at and what you enjoy so that you’ll want to keep doing them even when the news cycle is overwhelming.