Spotlight on Time’s Up

Is hope a privilege? Or is hope a muscle, a practice, a ritual or a discipline? An axe, a tactic or a strategy? A distraction, a tangent, an excuse? We take an old saying and modify it to remind ourselves that: We hear futures and we forget. We see futures and we remember. We do futures and we understand. We dare to maintain because we dare to do, and when we do, we come to understand.

Simple questions are often the best ones. This one has been on our mind for more than two years by now and is still productive. We do know this question has no answer. But it has many responses. Some of these responses might be found nearby. Some you will have yourself. Some of them will come about because other people have thought and acted “as if” the world has already changed. Some of the responses emerge to contradict what we thought we all knew. The questioner aimed the question at us and our work. We felt defensive for a moment, provoked, criticized. Despondency and dejection do not show a lack of intelligence. Neither do action and hope. Grief, anxiety, creativity, doubt, resilience and activity are all valid reactions to the polycrisis. There is much to do. We need volition, understanding, choice and agency to deal with this volatile, uncertain, chaotic and ambiguous world.