Hope

When I was a child the future was painted in all manner of hopeful ways; flying cars, stop whaling, hoverboards, gender equality, self-drying clothes, end to racism, teleportation, no deforestation, no poaching, renewable energy…and most importantly, hoverboards… did I mention that already?

Technology has moved forward so fast that my childhood of untwisting cassettes with a biro seems like a weird dream. We could never imagine how different our daily lives could be with the technology we keep in our pockets or on our wrists. Yet every day we imagine a world without the social and environmental problems we have, but it’s not becoming a reality.

Do we need a phone with 3 cameras…no. Do we need clean renewable energy…YES! Do we need to know how much REM sleep we had this week…no. Do we need to end hatred of race and sexuality and gender…YES, a thousand times, YES!

I hear so many people of my generation being cynical. They no longer believe that change can happen. So many people question, why would a change happen now when it hasn’t for so long? I see the pain behind that statement. However that pain is hindering hope. Having your hope chipped away at over decades leads a person to be more careful where they place that hope. I understand that. But much like racism shouldn’t be said out loud, neither should cynicism. Let Greta do her thing; if she can make change happen, perfect. Let each celebrity trying to use thier voice do it; the more positive voices and role models out there the better for all.

I lose hope. I look at my list of hopes for the future and realise that none of them truly exist yet. So then I pick myself up and think about the people who have waited for their hopes for a hell of a lot longer than me and I keep hoping. This is purely selfish though, I want to see this change in my lifetime. None of this – future generations stuff – what about us!! Why aren’t we fighting for our world? What, coz it’s too comfy like it is? Look around, no it isn’t. People are afraid. They are afraid of being different, of being left behind, of not having enough, of being hated, of regret.

There are also a frightening proportion who don’t want change. They are frightened to death of it and they are fighting so hard to keep the status quo. These are people who have no hope. Don’t let them be louder than you. Don’t let them drive the frikkin bus! When you hear doubt and cynicism, shove your hands over you hears and shout ‘la-la-la-I-can’t-hear-you’! Protect your hope. Guard it. Water it and keep it strong. Listen to the good news. Watch the up-lifting movie. Listen to hopeful songs. Stop the doubt when you see it and name it. The children are rising up because thier hope is stronger than ours, thiers hasn’t had the battering ours has. So shake it off and find your child-like hope for equality…and let’s not forget…hoverboards.