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Even in our bleakest moments, humans can be skillful, courageous and loving.
"The deeper our faith, the more doubt we must endure; the deeper our hope, the more prone we are to despair; the deeper our love, the more pain its loss will bring: these are a few of the paradoxes we must hold as human beings. If we refuse to hold them In the hopes of living without doubt, despair, and pain, we also find ourselves living without faith, hope and love."
- Parker J. Polmer
ARE PEOPLE telling you to be hopeful, or even optimistic? Many writers and teachers I admire insist that being hopeful is essential to being part of the solution for our beleaguered planet. I want to offer my contrarian encouragement to the hopeless among us, that we can still be of service, even on our bad days. If you are lucky enough to be sustained by hope, consider reading this In support of your hopeless friends.
In the 1980s, taking environmental studies at the University of Toronto and York University, I was overwhelmed by all the bad news, and I needed help with coping. The people who helped did not tell me how to feel; they encouraged me to...