“Our House is On Fire”’
And hope will not put it out
In a recent German publication with a title that translates as “Political Hope in the Borderline Situation of Ecological Destruction,” Olivia Mitscherlich-Schonherr writes: “Our house is on fire. I don’t want you to be hopeful, I want you to panic! I want you to feel the fear I feel every day and then I want you to act! Hope dies, action begins!”
The author continues saying that the Christian tradition of hope has not been all that useful and that Western philosophical efforts at generating hope have not been much better. Citing our book, Indigenous Sustainable Wisdom (Narvaez, Four Arrows, Halton & Enderle (2019), she says that Indigenous cutlures off a “political hope directed toward the shared flourishing with others in nature.” She goes on to say that philosophy (and religion) cannot generate hope in the fear-inducing present, but that “political hope can be strengthened through theoretical reflection and liberated from habitual determinations by criticism” (2006).
It seems that criticisms of our growing autocratic governance are growing, and that reflections about pre-colonial Indigenous approaches to this concept deserve consideration are also increasing. Whether these things lead to “political hope” or not is not a question I try to answer here. In fact, I dismiss the usual definitions of hope as a certainty that things will turn out as we wish. I prefer to redefine hope as the certainty that we are doing the right thing regardless of outcomes. What I wish to offer here, briefly, are practical ways to bring forth what Olivia refers to as”political hope” with the Indigenous sustainable wisdom she has come across in our book. Rather than viewing my words as a recipe for “hope,” I would prefer it is understood in ways that the author herself characterizes it in the opening quote. It is not about being hopeful. It is about taking action.
1. When the emotion of fear comes forth, it is better to focus on the present task at hand, rather than on either the past or the future. “The point of power is in the present.” If you believe this, you have an inexhaustible realm of ability at your command. When thoughts are focused on an immediate task, rather than on past events or imagined futures, you become unconsciously aware of many facets of your environment. If your thoughts are in the past or future, all you will have in the present is your fear. When fear comes, let it do no more than stimulate the adrenalin for your actions. Concentrate not on the fear, but on the immediate skills, work, and action. New, positive emotions will then follow the nature of your concentration, and your fear will move to courage. When action begins, it can turn to fearlessness which I define as fearless trust in the universe. (Note that Gandhi says fearlessness is a prerequisite for spirituality).
2. Everything has a humorous side, and it is always worth looking for. One of the positive emotions that can emerge when you concentrate in the present is laughter. A sense of humor has brought more people through difficult times than perhaps any other mental perspective. A humorous angle is embedded in all of life’s predicaments. Being able to take yourself seriously and laugh at yourself at the same time is, at first, an elusive skill. But, with practice, a sense of humor will emerge spontaneously.
3. Imagination is more powerful than determination. Although you could walk along a 4-inch plank lying on the ground, you probably could not do this if it were suspended a hundred feet in the air, even if you were offered a great deal of money. Regardless of the knowledge that you have the ability and the determination to earn the money, your imagined possibility of falling would probably be the controlling factor. Survival is seldom a matter of willpower, but of imagination to know what we ought to turn our wills toward.
4. There are usually more than two alternatives. There is a common mindset in which an individual automatically assumes that there are only two ways a situation can be resolved, and they limit themself to two ways of responding to a problem. This differs from the mindset that understands there are usually several ways of reacting to a particular situation.
5. Differentiation is as important as generalization. Generalization is a learning strategy necessary for survival. But if your belief system does not also allow for differentiation, then optimal adaptation to stress is not likely to occur. For example, Let us say you are lost and injured in a remote area. The land is hot and dry, and there have been wildland fire danger warnings posted. You smell smoke, and, using generalization alone, you now believe, on top of all your other troubles, you are going to be caught in a forest fire. So you run in the opposite direction, becoming further lost. If your mind-set included differentiation, however, you would have considered the possibility that the smoke was from a large campfire, built by people who could have helped you. You would have looked for clues to determine the truth about the fire, and as a result, your life would have been saved.
6. How we label things influences our reaction to them. Labeling things is an important aspect of human communication, but during emergencies it can get us into trouble. When we label, we evaluate and predict, often erroneously. Most people are not aware of how much arbitrary labeling of situations, whether in the form of self-statements or with statements to others—can influence outcomes. With this new belief in mind, you can change problems into challenges, liabilities into assets, difficulties into opportunities, and a canteen that is half empty into one that is half full.