Hope is a Thing You DO First & Feel Second

I keep trying to make myself feel hope.

But sometimes (I think often), hope is a thing you do first, and feel second.

I always try to make it work the other way around: to force the feeling of hope in my body and heart and mind, waiting until I feel it to THEN act or create or dream or plan for the future. Because, my brain argues, we have to believe the future is possible, hopeful, in order to imagine and build it.

It actually works the other way around.

It's the practice of imagining, longing, brainstorming, iterating, creating many possible future dreams, scenarios, plans, that brings hope to life for me. I need to do the actions first. And often I start from a complete crisis of faith, full of narrowed thinking and hopeless feeling.

That doesn't matter right now*. Just start.

It is the act of imagining the future (in more expansive and creative ways) that creates hope for the future. . And yet this can be the most painful, impossible-feeling place to start. Honestly, I'm avoiding it right now. I need to take my own dang class on Narrative Futures Design.

I'm over here with my mission of offering coaching clients, organizations and companies, gardeners, and YOU all "pragmatic, tangible hope." And yet, I'm not doing the work (play - funny how starting to play can feel like work at the beginning).

So today, I'm going to take you along with me as I go through the sections of the Narrative Futures Design video course, and do a few of the activities. Because I need it. And because I want you to have a sense of what it offers (and get some of what it offers NOW).

You can watch the whole video series on youtube right here (and subscribe to the channel for more!)

I need accountability to get started, and I know other folks do to, which is why I created the course in the first place. You don't have to make yourself believe in hope, in a future, in order to do the activities. Just treat it as a game, as play, as an action starting point. The hope comes, for me, with the delicious nitty gritty details that emerge as I imagine, design, plan, and iterate.

So thanks for being my accountability buddies today! If you like what you see/hear, if it resonates, you can get the course for 30% off with code WINTER30 at checkout, over at www.RachelEconomy.com/classes