Retreat for Hope

Today I have some time alone, and I want to give attention to what it means to have hope. I woke up with new ideas or my book project, and at the top was a section on hope for our earth.

We all know in our hearts that we are living on borrowed time - the worst is yet to come. But none of us know what the future holds - what movements might rise up; what a big corporation may suddenly decide to do; what planetary shifts might still occur.

In "Hope in the Dark; Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities" (2016), Rebecca Solnit writes, "Hope is a gift you don't have to surrender, a power you don't have to throw away. And though hope can be an act of defiance, defiance isn't enough reason to hope."

She writes about the realities of economic inequality, attacks on civil liberties, cyber-surveillance, and climate change. "Hope doesn't mean denying these realities. It means facing them and addressing them by remembering what else the twenty-first century has brought ...This has been a truly remarkable decade for movement building, social change, and deep, profound shifts in ideas, perspective, and frameworks..."

So one part of building hope is to remember the good stuff that has happened. Another part is to shift your perspective - open your mind to the possibility that things can get better. Life is full of uncertainties- why not hope for the best? Broad perspectives and possibilities invite an opening to action. 

"Hope locates itself in the premises that we don't know what will happen and that in the spaciousness of uncertainty is room to act. ... It's the belief that what we do matters even though how or when it may matter, who and what it may impact, are not things we can know beforehand."

Agenda:

1. Read "Perspective"

2. Make hope plans

3. Make peanut brittle

1. Read "Perspective":

Today I am reading this new book by Meridith Elliot Powell, subtitled Reignite, Reinvent, Reframe (2025). This is the work I am dedicating myself to this advent - the Grace of keeping a positive and broad perspective, because when I open my heart to the grace and transformation of the season, and my connection to the universal Spirit, I honor All of Creation.

I'm continuing on Chapter two, The Filter Effect, which is that reality (what we experience) isn't objective - it's filtered by how we see what is happening. Reality is in fact neutral, and we can frame it any way we want. We can decide it's all hopeless or we can decide to find hope.

What I like about this book is that it's doesn't preach a pie-in-the-sky, aspirational, find the silver lining attitude, but rather let's get real, and find an opportunity in what we've been dealt.

"Every challenge comes with facts - hard data. What's happening is what's happening. But your perspective - the lens through which you view those facts - dictates whether you see an ending or a beginning, a setback or a setup."

Each chapter has an action step, which she calls the Thrive Cycle, and this first step is to Condition your mind for change- start with mindset. It's all about how to choose your own filter, one that empowers you - how to tell yourself a story about what's happening that is honest, compassionate, creative, and hopeful (rather than full-on victimization and ruination). Our brains are wired for survival, and the default story is fear, panic, and negativity; we need to take charge of the narrative and shift away from self-protection to creativity and hope.

Mind conditioning is a practice of pausing before reacting to ask: questions. Questions are "the secret back door into your brain's belief system." Questions interrupt the default story long enough to open the door to curiosity, which uses a different part of your brain. Asking questions creates space for reflection. 

Ask: What else could be true? How else can I look at it? Can I find a creative response? Are there hidden opportunities? 

She calls this productive possibility - finding the path forward. It's a great way for a leader to shift the perspective of everyone involved.

2. Make hope plans:

Active Hope was my theme at last year's New Year and Lent. I did quite bit of writing then that informed my actions, and became the impetus to write my book! My questions today are:

• What are my current challenges, and how can I reframe them? 
• How can my new story help my team and my family? How can I shift my mood from anxiety, frustration, impatience, and self-defense? 
• How can I best train this habit of reframing so that it helps me succeed at life?

My Hope Plans:

1. Begin a "New Narrative for the Week" journal in my blog to practice asking myself questions about challenges and reframing.
2. Add a section in my book called: The final shift - towards hope.
3. Make hope and perspective a topic of study after the new moon.
4. Also, continue with the Ongo solo practices, and meet with Tami to talk about it.

3. New narrative for the week:

My theme for next week is family love and joy, and my story might shift a little towards greater flexibility and calmness. 

One story reframe is "W needs a little more order and calm, so when I notice him micro-managing or asking silly questions, I might pause and get curious about how to create that for him." 

4. Make peanut brittle:

Peanut brittle is a good make-ahead project, because it can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month (if you hide it!).

Ingredients:

• 2 c. white sugar
• 1 c. light corn syrup
• 1/2 c. butter
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 c. raw peanuts
• 2 tsp. baking soda

1- Grease 2 large cookie sheets and set aside.

2- Combine sugar, corn syrup, butter, salt, and 1/2 c. water in a heavy 2-quart saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved and butter is melted.

3- Set a candy thermometer in place, and continue cooking, stirring frequently. The sugar syrup must be cooked to the hard-crack stage, between 305° and 310°F on a candy thermometer. 

4- If you have raw peanuts add them early. Raw nuts will cook with the syrup and flavor it, giving the brittle a nuttier taste. 

If you have roasted nuts add them at the end of the cooking time, at around 275°F, or they could burn and give the candy a bitter taste. You might want to warm the roasted nuts first in a 250°F oven so they don't cause the candy to seize up. 

5- When the candy is done, remove it from the heat and immediately stir in the baking soda; it will foam up and give the candy a porous, delicate texture.

6- Quickly pour the candy out onto the prepared cookie sheets. Oil a large spoon and use the back to spread the brittle into a thin, even layer.

7- Cool, then snap candy into pieces and store in an air-tight container.