Where is Hope to be found?

Without hope, the people perish.

Without hope, the people perish. But where can hope be found in the tumultuous global economic, social, and climate conditions we face?

What does it mean to hold Hope?
The term hope has nothing to do with a wish list of utopian ideals but refers to the possibility of transformation - grounded in reality. Transformation goes beyond tinkering at the edges, it involves deep change. Our time in history requires transformation within both our outer and inner worlds. Our outer world involves how we live together, whereas our inner world comprises our cultural mindset. Our cultural mindset is generated by our shared experience of identity, purpose, and values. Both worlds are two sides of one coin.

Inner and outer transformation
No longer can our focus be on outer transformation, on the usual go-tos of new technologies, education, and financial incentives. Alongside such outer transformation stands a call for inner transformation, a call for deep inner change in the form of a shift in mindset. Such a call is especially applicable to Western societies who operate from a mindset of continual consumption of the natural world, a world seemingly ready and waiting to be exploited. But is a new cultural mindset possible? Is a collective inner transformation - grounded in reality, possible? Can we lift our collective gaze?

Realities offering Hope
Two realities offer the possibility of inner transformation. The first draws from Barbara Hubbard’s contention that, “the nature of nature is to transform when it has hit a crisis of limits” (Conscious Evolution: awakening the power of our social potential). Western societies have certainly hit a crisis of limits. But all is not doom and gloom. If Hubbard is correct, it is the current crisis of limits that can generate a transformation of our cultural mindset. Such a transformation will not be within our control. Even so, we will all be called upon to play our part.

The second reality offering hope is that earlier pioneers of cultural transformation have identified a new operating principle for grounding a new cultural mindset. The principle is interconnectedness via unity with diversity. The new principle is not prescriptive but rather decentres the existing set of assumptions regarding our human identity, purpose, and values while at the same time opening the way for a new set of assumptions to emerge within our shared consciousness.

A crucible for inner transformation
So yes, we have hit a crisis of limits, a crisis that is wreaking havoc around the globe. We are living in challenging times. At the same time, a new operating principle for grounding a new mindset has emerged. It would seem that our time in history is like a crucible for inner transformation. The question is, “Will we choose to work against, or participate in, the transformative process?”