Hope is a group project rather than an individual enterprise

“Rarely, if ever, are any of us healed in isolation” — bell hooks

Hope serves as a reminder that possibilities lie beyond our current struggles. Hope is like a flame, one that can be kindled through narratives, artistic expressions, mindfulness, and community connection. But why is hope important? And how do we grow it? It’s from these glowing embers that we find the courage and support to face our challenges. And we don’t have to do it alone.

In this blog post, I’ll share a little more about my Huddle, Hope: the group project, and why it could be beneficial for you in these times. I’ll also share a few resources which will (hopefully) galvanise your sense of hope.

Hope: the group project

Collaboration is one of the most important factors when it comes to community mobilisation and action. When several individuals come together in favour of a common goal, together they can achieve much more than the sum of what each of them could achieve by themselves. This is no different when we talk about cultivating hope.

When we look at the complex and frightening problems that are affecting us and the world, it’s easy to feel small and powerless. Even when we have the motivation to do something to make the world a better place, it’s common to eventually feel that our actions don’t make a difference amid such a chaotic context. The point is that this narrative of individual heroism, whether to save the world or ourselves, doesn’t really help.

If many of the challenges we encounter in life often have a lot of similarities with the experiences of other human beings, why are we trying to deal with them in isolation? The narrative insisting on self-reliance and relentless effort fosters an illusory sense of detachment that is extremely detrimental to our well-being.

We are human and social beings. We are stronger as a group.

Chan Hellman mentions in his TedTalk “The Science and Power of Hope” that more than a feeling or an emotion, hope is a way of thinking:

“Hope is the belief that your future will be better than today and you have the power to make it so.”

In other words, hope is directly linked to our capacity for action. And hope is a group project rather than an individual enterprise.

In the past 7 years, I’ve been working with grassroots social impact projects and community initiatives, and I learned in this journey that one of the things that the most resilient communities have in common is their ability to face their problems and challenges collectively. The stronger the connection between the members of a group and the sense of interdependence that exists there, the more likely it is that this community will believe that things can be different and therefore will mobilise themselves to make it happen.

Hope: the group project was born out of these reflections and my own need to feel supported to navigate our current reality and to strengthen my capacity to be an agent of change. I want to explore what it would be like to regenerate our capacity to share challenges and nurture our hope in community again.

If you, like me, at times feel overwhelmed, sad and powerless with everything that’s happening in the world and would like to turn these feelings into something else, I invite you to join me in this Huddle. We will come together to explore how our capacity for hope is intertwined with our capacity to be connected with ourselves, other humans and the more-than-human world around us.

Reasons to join

Huddles are a great opportunity to discover and practise a new approach to learning. Instead of teachers, everyone learns from each other and the universe of experiences they bring into the mix. By joining Hope: the group project you will have the chance to:

• Bring your enquiry around hope into a space where you can explore, practice and take action through tough times.
• Co-create a community of hopeful peers, developing relationships that will sustain your hope in the years to come.
• Find support to create or further develop an initiative that brings more hope into your life and into the world.
• Join the most awesome wider community of Huddecraft

Together, we will reconnect our sense of hope to our sense of action in a collective way.

How does it work?

Huddles can come in many shapes and sizes but are usually organised in three phases.

• Explore is about divergence, research and gathering.
• Develop is about distilling insights, and starting to create and test responses.
• Showcase is about continuing to iterate, making a commitment and producing something of value.

Hope: the group project will last 3 months, kicking-off with an immersive week to meaningfully connect (with ourselves and each other), refine our learning questions, and co-design our next months together. From there, we will have fortnightly meet-ups, getting shit done sessions, an open event to collect feedback and buddy check-ins that will set up the space for accountability and motivation. This structure well-loved and tested by Huddlecraft will take us through deeper reflection and practical action. The experience ends with a showcase event co-created by the group.

The Pathway in more detail

Key dates

• Kick off: January 23rd, 2024.
• Finish line: April 17th, 2024.
• Application’s deadline: December 22nd, 2023.

You can find out more and apply on the Huddle webpage here.

By going on this journey, we will have the chance to unlearn patterns of behaviour that make us believe that we have to face the challenges of life and the world by ourselves. We are stronger as a group, so let’s explore how we can practice being in synergy with the world around us. In light of our current reality, this is an opportunity to strengthen your ability to hope and act to co-create a better reality for yourself, for the communities you are part of, for life itself, and for the future generations of which you are an ancestor. Let’s get on board?

Hopefulness Learning Playlist

I’ve curated a list of 8 links that can help you nurture your sense of hope in current times:

• 🎧 Listen to: When nothing seems to work, how do you make change? The Ashes on the Lawn, a podcast from Radiolab, tells a profound story of the contradictory motives and dilemmas faced by activists struggling to make our world better.
• 🎧 Listen to: Mixed Medicine, a podcast hosted by Leah Manaema where she and her guests explore mental health and holistic wellbeing, shifting the lens on the discussion toward decolonisation and systemic transformation as the antidote.
• 📘 Read: Explore the impact of kindness in our capacity to feel hopeful in my blog post: Can hitchhiking be an expression of hope?
• 📺 Watch: The Science and Power of Hope, a TEDx talk by Chan Hellman. Dive into the neuroscience behind hope and its impact on mental and emotional well-being.
• 📺 Watch: Mindful Moment: Finding hope, a guided meditation from Action for Happiness.
• 📺 Watch: The Ted talk, An Argument for Hope from Noella Moshi.
• ➕ Follow: adrienne maree brown. Adrienne nurtures Emergent Strategy, Pleasure Activism, Radical Imagination and Transformative Justice as ideas and practices for transformation.
• ➕ Follow: Action for Happiness, a movement of people building a happier society by making positive changes in their personal lives, homes, workplaces and communities. Find them on Instagram or Twitter.