Hope Is

Unlearning my view about hope.

This is a gift of gratitude for all of Jane Goodall’s work as a messenger of hope.

As a human in my early 50s,

I’ve become very good at cutting noise down.

When I listen,

I carefully choose who I listen to.

Recently feeling hopeless about our environment,

What better way to find some answers than reading

‘The Book of Hope’

By Jane Goodall and Douglas Abrams.

The gist:

Hope is NOT a weak passive Pollyanna response.

Rather,

Hope is a powerful antidote to apathy (1).

A trait that counters our feeling of being overwhelmed,

when we just freeze.

Hope is two disabled humans.

Jia Haixia who is blind.

Jia Wenqi wo is armless.

They felt their environment being depleted.

So they acted upon a journey of planting about 800 trees,

From branches off the remaining trees.

They were dismayed that only two trees survived.

The land was too dry so they acted upon watering the soil.

10,000 trees later.

A fresh, earthy smell of a forest has been created in their community.

Two hopeful men.

Acknowledged the challenges of where they are.

Started with what little they have.

Active hope creates change.

In full circle, creates more hope.

I didn’t like using the word hope.

After reading the book,

I’ve had to unlearn my own views about hope.

As Jane said,

‘Hope is a stubborn determination’.

Oh blimey!

I’ve been defined as stubborn as hell,

All my life by all my loved ones.

As a human who was diagnosed with autoimmune condition,

A debilitating one called rheumatoid arthritis.

I was facing a future life of deformity,

And eventually disability.

My stubborn spirit led me to quest for the truth.

The only thing closest to the truth I found to heal my body,

Is to switch to a wholefood plant-rich palate.

And the truth about polyphenols from:

Berries,

Herbs and spices,

Cocoa powder,

Nuts,

Flaxseeds,

Olives,

Vegetables,

Coffee and

Green tea.

A journey to create my truth for my own survival.

Jane said - ‘Hope is a survival trait’.

I concur when she also said that,

‘I don’t have time for aches and pains.’

So these hands,

Create good food,

Grow a diversity of plants,

Play music,

Write and let my voice heard,

Clean and scrub.

Interchangeably creating, non-stop.

I guess I’m afraid of losing my hands ability.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/bf0f29_cdcd296ae1fc4effbced1547880e29d4/720p/mp4/file.mp4

{My take on this song is different, it's about my journey of finding Mother Earth since I moved to Australia.}

So, these feet,

Run miles on end non-stop,

Until my lungs start to exhaust.

Running to rebel what I refuse to accept from mainstream (2).

Half marathon on top of the Harbour Bridge,

Breathing in the feeling of true freedom.

Where true freedom is using the healing of my defect,

As my work and my service.

Courage.

Discipline.

Hope.

We’ve had it all along.

It is seeped right through our soul.

It’s the spark hidden within our stubborn spirit.

Let’s be quiet and listen to it.

Jane said – ‘Hope is a social gift’.

We all have it within us.

To give to each other.

To give birth to create good change.

Have you unknowingly given hope and widened opportunities for another?

With short kind words or even a simple eye contact or smile?

Have you unknowingly saved someone from feeling hopeless?

And saved their lives?

So, let’s save our own species.

By transforming from an invasive one to a more giving one.

We’ve got to stop taking from other life forms and let’s give back.

Invasive species comes to an end.

It’s Mother Nature’s secret all along.

And our kids know that.

I am ashamed to have to get my son Hayden to clean up the shit I've created.

Let’s cross out the big and complicated.

Coz we end up doing it later.

Or not do anything at all.

Let’s start with the small and simple.

So that we do it NOW.

Run.

Rebel.

Re-use.

Refill.

Replace.

Regenerate.

Replenish.

Raspberries.

Repeat.

Reiterate.

Reflect.

Reconnect.

It’s okay if you start with growing raspberries.

Or buy organic ones.

Rebel against plastic.

As a consumer, we have the power to deny plastic.

Rebel against food that injure the inside of our body.

Instead heal ourselves by making plant-rich food the star of our plate.

Rebel against bad players in the consumer industry.

They keep taking from our planet.

Often, they provide the cheapest option.

Suchlike, Aldi and Costco (3).

Rebel.

By simply consuming only what is good for everyone.

Everyone includes all creatures on land and sea.

I shut my ears down whenever I hear the word –

Expensive.

Or in Tagalog – Mahal.

In fact, I run away from people who say the word at least three times a day.

I see value as non-monetary.

I see the value of what we consume with what it does to our mind and body.

And what it does to our future generation.

Here’s how it works.

When we collectively consume what we need and they are sustainably produced,

It supports good producers which enables them to expand their supply.

It will then drive prices down for us.

The price that we pay now,

Includes our future health,

And the opportunities and environment we create for our kids.

Replenish and regenerate.

Regenerate simply is putting back good stuff on our planet.

Start growing some of our own food.

Get our hands dirty and reconnect with Nature.

Be surprised that this simple act will widen your psyche.

Repeat and reiterate.

Before you know it,

You will receive so much reflected gratitude,

For the good you are sharing.

When my son Hayden was young.

We watched the devastating impact of super typhoon Haiyan in 2013.

Holding a measuring tape in our little backyard,

He then came up with an imagined solution for his future.

That he would become the best builder who made

Underground, waterproof, earthquake-proof hide away home in times of disaster.

Then he asked,

‘Mum, do I have to build such a thing?'

I left that question unanswered.

Until now.

Little darling Hayden,

No, you do not have to.

Because our species is not evolving to live underground,

We need air, fresh water, light and sunshine.

Hayden, if you were here,

I would call you one of your other names -

Sunshine.

I imagine I would hold you and sing you the first verse of

‘You are my sunshine’.

If you were still little,

You would probably emphasise the line from the song to me –

‘Please don’t take my sunshine away.’

Jane said –

‘We have a small window of time

And that window of time is closing’.

To move the needle,

Let’s shift to looking after our soil.

As consumers and producers,

We have the power to choose organically and regeneratively grown goods.

If we only expose ourselves to supermarkets,

Then yes, we will find organic goods to be expensive.

There are a growing number of producers and distributors who sell them in bulk.

Divide them up among family and friends.

You will find that they are not that expensive.

They are sometimes even cheaper than conventionally grown ones.

Regularly go to farmers markets.

Discuss with the farmers and producers how they grow, make, and package their goods.

We only have to watch the documentary,

‘The Biggest Little Farm’.

To realise that good farming turns our soil into sponge,

That soak up excess water from the rain.

The other farms surrounding John and Molly Chester’s farm gets flooded.

As their soil turned to dirt,

With the use of synthetic fertilizer and pesticides.

Floods.

Sponge.

Let’s clean up our mess.

Let’s soak up the excess rain with good soil.

Let’s face the challenges of the reality of where we are.

‘The future was never won without a battle.’ (4)

This power we have.

Let’s collectively consume organic.

To disrupt the mainstream.

To shake up industries.

To wake up agents of government.

To shift most of the subsidy to organic farmers and sustainable producers.

Here’s to the cynic.

None of us can predict the future.

We can only act for it.

When we are being cynical, we are not being intelligent.

Being cynical is comfortably lazy,

As we become afraid of being vulnerable,

Which is a way for us to feel imagined safety in the meantime.

If us humans are so intelligent,

Then why are we destroying our planet?

Our only place to live.

It’s a 50/50 choice.

Let’s help each other to start, to act.

Besides, I truly believe poet IN-Q when he said,

‘We’re equally responsible for all we’re denying.’ (5)

Jane said – ‘We are 50/50 good and evil.’

Smack right in the middle.

Which way we go depends on our environment.

So, let this one sink in.

We have the indominable human spirit.

With active hope, let’s have wisdom to do the right thing.

Because all creations and our kids’ future,

Deserves a good one.

References:

(1) RRP

(2) Inspired by Knox Robinson.

(3) https://regeneration.org/nexus

(4) Douglas Abrams

(5) Inquire Within by IN-Q