Intrinsic Hope
Living Courageously in Troubled Times
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- £16.99
Publisher Description
A different kind of hope for living in these turbulent times
Climate disruption. Growing social inequality. Pollution. We are living in an era of unprecedented crises, resulting in widespread feelings of fear, despair, and grief. Now, more than ever, maintaining hope for the future is a monumental task.
Intrinsic Hope offers a powerful antidote to these feelings. It shows how conventional ideas of hope are rooted in the belief that life will conform to our wishes and how this leads to disappointment, despair, and a dismal view of the future. As an alternative, it offers "intrinsic hope," a powerful, liberating, and positive approach to life based on having a deep trust in whatever happens. The author, a hopeful survivor, shows how to cultivate intrinsic hope through practical tips and six mindful habits for living a positive, courageous life in these troubled times.
Whether working directly on ecological or social issues or worried about children and grandchildren, this book is for everyone concerned about the future and looking for a deeper source of hope for a better world.
AWARDS
GOLD | 2018 Nautilus Book Awards: Social Grand Prize Overall Winner
GOLD | 2018 Nautilus Book Awards: Personal Growth
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Davies (The Rise of the U.S. Environmental Health Movement), a public health professor at Seattle's Antioch University's Center for Creative Change, introduces ideas including the power of public witness and the integration of love and compassion into activist work to help mobilize readers who may be paralyzed with fear or despair over the prospect of climate catastrophe. Combining lessons of her Quaker faith with other historical and philosophical sources, including Buddhist teachings, Davies uses a self-help structure for naming and understanding feelings of powerlessness that relies on an evidence-based rationale for feeling hope amid foreboding headlines and species extinction. By sharing her personal experiences in the environmental policy field (a decade running the first municipal environment office in Canada) alongside honest self-reflection about her own moments of doubt about the potential for change, she gives readers a view of how her expertise justifies her positive conclusions about love for the planet, acceptance of the present reality, and the potential for meaningful action. Though the book can stumble into the realm of new-age nostrums (such as sending joyful hearts aspirations to strangers), her declaration that millions of small acts created the present crisis is a helpful reminder of the role that modest actions can play en masse. In an age of extreme weather and rising oceans, Davies's insistence on hope fuels a useful approach to helping turn back the tide of climate disruption.
