Setting Sails, Earning Hope

When I rode my bike across the US in 2024, I asked people a simple question, “What brings you hope?”
From gas stations to farms, libraries to parks, this question prompted a variety of responses, at times even a hesitation to admit feeling any of it at all.

Hope is a bold thing to hold onto right now. Some argue that it is held as a defense mechanism to shield from grief, a proverbial “lalala” with fingers in your ears to avoid hearing the cacophony that no doubt has made it to your feed, your screen, your conversations.

For me, I’ve felt it when described with the power of agency; the antidote of helplessness is doing. For awhile, ‘doing’ has meant riding a bike and asking people what elicits such a sense in them.

But the funny thing about being on the other side of the camera is the ability to conveniently sidestep answers of one’s own.

Seth at Bear’s Lodge, the Librarians of Neligh, NE, Missouri covered bridge, & Effingham, IL

Currently, we use a whole lot more than we give back. We are quite good at that—exponentially good, in fact. And the thing is, if you exponentially increase consumption, you more quickly convert all the magic of complex existence, into waste. In a materials-based market, the conversion of things to waste is what we call economy (and make no mistake, most service is predicated upon material throughput, as well).

The regenerative abilities of nature have been my source of hope. Regeneration, when coupled with resilience, is a response to unpredictable futures. Or perhaps it is a recognition, a reclamation of knowledge that we still hold but have fallen out of step with.

Regeneration means tending our soil, and caring for our water, such that the food we eat is a product of richness. I have learned this from the likes of friends and farmers, through an abundance of meals along the journeys I have been fortunate enough to partake in. It means caring for our people, such that we can all prosper.

I’ve heard it asked, ‘What is GDP for, anyway?’ Is it for health, prosperity, and security? Take a look at the SuperBowl commercials this year. Crypto, AI, sugar water. This is the source of unimaginable wealth, to which we are devoting our world and livelihoods?

But maybe “regeneration” is just another term, another fad. There is a gulf between such an idea and where we are now. Perhaps this is next in line to follow the way of other well-meaning terms: ‘sustainability’, ‘green’, ‘renewable.’

“But what if we get it right?” Ayana Elizabeth Johnson asks, in her work investigating nature, policy, and conservation. There’s no shortage of things going wrong, and our paths ahead grow more limited by the day. We need to start trying something, and then we need to start really trying, really fast.

We need to throw off the bowlines and catch the tradewinds in our sails, Mark Twain advises. We must depart the safe harbor, but I’m not sure any harbor nowadays is safe. The “Explore. Dream. Discover.” part of this quote lands differently when the seas ahead appear so dark and choppy.

Look at our own seas today. The global economy awaits with bated breath to see if a 20-mile geographic pinchpoint in the Arabian Sea will continue to throw oil markets into disarray. The Strait of Hormuz being closed is going to be the least of our worries, however.

We are not going to drive our way out of the apocalypse.

And so, seeking my own agency, I joined Regenerate Cascadia for the first day in the Design School for Regenerating Earth’s new series this week, to stitch these ideas into practice. I heard from friends I have met over the years, and I conversed with new voices, all pressing onward. Rafts lashed together for stability, a casting off for the come what may.

As for me, I will be around northwestern Washington for now, teaching energy studies with Western Washington University, designing some bioregional exploratory bike trips in this neck of the woods, and probably taking some photos and writing a few words along the way.

I’m looking to earn my hope, and I’d be glad to connect if any of this calls to you too.