Week 9: There is darkness; and there is hope
I spent a lot more time tuning in to the news this week, and (unsurprisingly) have been feeling a little bit more despaired than usual.
What have we become as the human race?
The pandemic isn’t over (though some may argue lives have gone back to “normal”), we are fighting the effects of climate change, and now we’re going to war?
I say “we” because, as inhabitants of a blue planet called Earth, we are all interlinked. The emergence of a highly transmissible virus in one country can cause lockdowns in others, excessive deforestation in one continent can lead to flashfloods and bushfires in another, the invasion of a sovereign state miles away can cause political, financial, and economic ripples across the globe…
My heart aches for those currently suffering losses — of belongings, of home, of lives, but I shall refrain from commenting more. Because I strongly lack the knowledge to do so.
But for those out there feeling the despair of only being able to watch, not knowing what to do, please believe that there is hope.
Jane Goodall talks about the indominable human spirit in her book — The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times. According to Jane, this is “the quality that makes us tackle what seems impossible and never give up” and is one of her four reasons for hope.
I sometimes hear this when I bring up the topic of making a change, “I am just one, nothing I do will change anything. It is not in my power to change anything.” Perhaps there is some truth to that. But, then again, perhaps, not entirely.
As human beings, we can choose to be courageous, to be resilient, to have hope. And we need to do it together, to inspire and be inspired. That is how we increase our chances of making it through and seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
“(We) each have a role to play. (We) were born for a reason” — Jane Goodall
I’d like to share the lyrics from a song that has always helped me get by in difficult times.
“心臟沒有那麼脆弱 總還會有執著
人生不會只有收穫 總難免有傷口
不要害怕生命中 不完美的角落
陽光在每個裂縫中散落 ” — JJ Lin, Before Sunrise
Rough translation —
“We are not as fragile as we think we are, our instincts will always fight to persevere. Life cannot only be filled with gains, there will inevitably be wounds and losses. Do not fear the cracks (imperfections) in life, for the rays from the Sun will shine through each and everyone one of them.” — JJ Lin, Before Sunrise
In difficult times, it may be hard to find things that we are grateful for. Maybe, for now, what we need is to simply have faith in the fact that better times lie ahead, if we strived for it together.
Maybe for now, all we need, is to know that there is hope.
