Hope is a strategy for change.
Five shifts for better narratives:
fear
hope
Hope is the belief that tomorrow can be better, if we make it so. Hope opens the door to empathy and action. If we are going to engage in lasting social change, we need to believe that change is possible. We can train ourselves to adopt a hope-based mindset that keeps us focused on the change we want to see.
against
for
To change narratives, we need to tell our own story, and avoid reacting to others. We need to be as good at celebrating the things we want to see in the world as we are at criticising the things we want to stop. Instead of operating through the prism of harmful ideas we want to tear down, we can find creative ways to build up truly radical values like openness, empathy and kindness.
problem
solution
People need to believe that there is an alternative to today’s problems. Showing how change can happen in the future actually demands far more creativity and effort than documenting what is already happening. We need to show people how our solutions will work and how society will look like once change happens. When we communicate how things should be, we not only make it possible, we make it inevitable.
threat
opportunity
Fear mobilizes, hope organizes. Instead of making people feel guilty or at risk, powerful movements give them a sense of belonging and agency, because community forms values. We need to listen to our audience: even people we disagree with can change, if we engage with them. Think about the attitude and behavior you want people to adopt, then give them a chance to think and act that way.
victim
human
We ask people to stand in solidarity with others, rather than pitying them. The more our opponents try to divide, the more we need powerful stories that unite. We can all grow the new narratives we need through the stories we tell. The seeds of a better tomorrow are often all around us, but the stories are not always told. We can strengthen these new ways of seeing the world every day.
