Hope Walking
It has been a year!
Over the last year, much of what we assumed to be an unshakable shared foundation of our country has been purposefully dismantled leaving us with the darkest, shadow aspects of our culture laid bare for all to see.
We are living through an era in which our own government is inflicting harm on our people through policies that terrorize communities, deny basic humanity, and leave people struggling for the basics of life. Until this past year, we, as Americans, enjoyed the confidence that these sorts of things would never happen here. What was once framed as unthinkable is now visible and routine. Social agreements are crumbling, and long-standing narratives about progress, safety, and stability are simply gone. Climate disruption, once spoken of as a future concern, is now part of reality, as yet another layer of instability unfolding alongside our political and cultural breakdown.
This betrayal carries the imprint of trauma. Like a child harmed by a trusted caregiver—the very figure meant to provide safety, protection, and continuity. We all are experiencing a profound rupture of trust in the systems we have depended on not just to thrive but to survive. The injury is not only political or social. It is not happening outside of us. It is reverberating in our nervous systems and causing a host of physical and emotional health problems. When we can no longer trust the structures meant to hold us and they instead become sources of danger, fear and stress become chronic. As the ground of Reality itself feels unstable, an enormous stress is inflicted on our bodies, minds, and spirits.
It is precisely here, in the ongoing betrayal, that Radical Hope becomes necessary to stay oriented. Not as optimism or reassurance, but as a reparative, spiritual practice. Radical Hope invites us to reorient toward Life Herself as reliable ground to stand on. It helps restore our capacity to sense the authentic direction of our lives, to remain engaged, and to participate consciously in Her rebirth. Earth and the cosmos are birthing an era of awakening Unity Consciousness. As we are Earth in human form, we are invited to birth Unity Consciousness with ourselves individually. This is how collective awakening happens.
We are in this for a while. We need strategies that support us in continuing to bring our most noble selves into our relationships with loved ones, community, and our other-than-human kin. I offer you these essays to serve as a life raft in a stormy sea.
What follows is an exploration of Radical Hope through the lens of Spring and the Wood Phase to help you embody it. It is a piece I wrote a year ago and couldn’t be more timely.
Radical Hope: The Transformative Power of Spring/Wood Energy
In the philosophy of Chinese medicine, the five elements—Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water—represent fundamental energies that flow through nature and our bodies. These elements symbolize the dynamic phases of energy that drive the cycles of life.
Energy is like the wind—we can’t see it, but we can see and feel its effects. It is the Wood Phase energy that powers Spring. This energy makes birds burst into song, causes sap to rise, and sparks the restlessness we call “cabin fever.” Spring/Wood energy has an expansive, upward-moving quality, giving rise to birth, renewal, and rapid growth. Wood energy brings us Hope. We feel Hope running through our bodies as we, too, are renewed when Spring brings the world back to life.
Birth and renewal are deeply mysterious processes, continuously unfolding as Life recreates Herself daily. We are so accustomed to these miracles that we forget to be awed: a seed sprouting, a snowdrop breaking through frozen ground, the arrival of new life in all forms. We experience this magic in our own creative processes, whether making art, starting a business, or planning a dinner party. Inspiration catches our attention (inspiration by definition comes from the Mystery). Then we envision, feel, and plan, eventually turning inspiration into reality. This creative unfolding mirrors the movement of Spring/Wood energy through us, from Spirit to Mind/Emotion to manifestation in the physical world.
When we see Hope as an expression of Spring/Wood energy, its essential role in creation becomes clear. Yet in these times of cultural and ecological unraveling, we must ask: How do we follow the thread of Hope to participate in the Earth’s immense project of birthing a Thriving Life Future?
"Hope is a verb with its sleeves rolled up. Hope is always busy trying to change the odds," said David Orr, Professor of Environmental Studies. This view challenges our common understanding of Hope as a passive emotional state. Saying, “I hope it’s sunny on Saturday,” is a passive Hope—we have no control over the weather. But to say, “I hope we survive the Great Unraveling of our era,” carries a different weight. This is Hope as a direction, choice, a practice, and a call to action.
This kind of Hope fuels the countless ways people are co-creating a regenerative future—from protecting the environment, transforming our economic and social systems to awakening a new spiritual consciousness. It is not wishful thinking; it is a discipline, an intentional practice. Hope in this sense is spiritual and energetic, a shift in perception that changes how we think and walk through the world.
Unlike optimism, which waits for evidence, Radical Hope acts despite uncertainty. It is engaged, courageous, and willing to return again and again. Radical Hope isn’t naive—it knows the odds but chooses to try anyway. It aligns us with the relentless creative power of Life. It’s the snowdrop pushing through frozen ground. It’s the seed reaching for sunlight. It is us, choosing to believe in and participate with Life’s renewal, even when the way forward is unclear.
Spring/Wood energy reminds us that renewal is not only possible, it is already underway. By aligning with this phase of energy, we remember that Hope is not something we passively feel; it is something we actively practice. It is a creative force that arises from within us, fueled by the same energy that brings the world back to life each Spring. In times of uncertainty, practicing Radical Hope grounds us in the knowledge that we are part of a greater cycle—one that is always moving toward regenerative Life. When we embody this Hope, sleeves rolled up and hearts open, we become co-creators of a future rooted in spirit, regeneration, resilience, and the enduring miracle of renewal.
Afterthought
What has become clear over this past year is that we are not standing at the edge of radical transformation, we are living it. Great Unraveling is no longer a theoretical future event, it is happening now. We know from our Taoist learning about the Winter/Water Phase that death and rebirth happen at the same time. Both are unfolding together. Our culture is in the Winter/Water, Death/Rebirth phase of the life cycle and Radical Hope leans us toward the rebirth. (You can see a video on that here).
Spring/Wood energy does not promise that anything will be saved. It does promise movement. Up and out like sap rising in the trees in February. This movement is an unstoppable insistence on Life, even when conditions are harsh and outcomes unclear. Hope, in this sense, is not about believing things will turn out well. It is about choosing to stay in relationship with Life Herself. Choosing to go looking for little green shoots emerging after a forest fire rather than focusing on the burnt stumps.
Radical Hope invites us to mature beyond optimism. It asks us to remain emotionally and spiritually available amidst the chaos of a composting era. To keep showing up. To keep tending what is ours to tend— our families, our communities, our inner lives, our capacity for care and kindness even as the landscape changes like a bad weather pattern.
This kind of Hope does not deny grief. We are complicated emotional beings capable of holding opposing emotions simultaneously. We can understand that sorrow and love arise from the same source. In fact, our grief may be one of the clearest signs that we are still connected to the Earth, to one another, to the sacred, because we cannot grieve someone we haven’t deeply loved.
As Spring returns each year, we are reminded that renewal is not a single event but a continuous act of conscious participation. When we align ourselves with this energy, when we practice Hope as a verb, as something we do and not something we wait for, we place ourselves in service to Life’s ongoing regeneration of Herself.
We may not know what the future holds. But we can choose how we walk toward it: awake, rooted, and willing to offer our presence, our love, and our hands to what is being born… even now.
Notes:
Spring energy will begin to be clearly observable in our own body/minds and in the plants and animals around us this week (February 11th). (How to Work With the Chart is here). All are Earth in their own particular form. Once the sap buckets are hung on the trees, we know the sap is rising and spring is here. That rising energy in us can feel like stress, irratibility, impatience, quick judgement, restlessness or even angry outbursts. The medicine for this is movement. Spring/Wood energy is all about movement and we must move too. Bitter greens and eating lighter meals will help. Keep it warm and cooked until the second half of spring when we can start to enjoy salad more.
As always, feel free to reply to this email, I love to hear from you.
You can find me on Substack here, https://substack.com/@resilientspirits