Week 30: "Still Hopeful: Lessons From a Lifetime of Activism"& Chocolate Chip Unicorn Cookies

Why this book? I was in Victoria browsing my favourite book store, Munro’s books & came across this book "Still Hopeful: Lessons From a Lifetime of Activism."

It was published in 2022 so it provides historical context as it relates to Covid, water crises & governments focused on creating a better planet.

On page 3, I learned about the difference between optimism and hope. Optimism can be dangerous because it does not require engagement and if things don't get better you go straight to pessimism. Hope requires engagement and Wise hope is born out of radical uncertainty and rooted in the unknown.(Umm maybe like with Covid).

In those early days when information was changing by the day my partner & I would go for long walks & talk about everything going on. There really was a sense of taking care of each other & your neighbours that I haven’t seen before.

In the chapter “The Rising of Women'' she shares how women in the 50s and 60s were taking up office jobs yet still couldn't open a bank account or apply for a passport without a male relative’s signature. This was only 60 years ago. We have made progress.

There was also chapter on justice for water.

Today there are over 83,000 people in Canada who don't have clean drinking water and most are First Nations communities. Globally 2 billion people are forced to drink contaminated water daily. The author started the blue committee pledge which is focused on 3 items:

1. To protect and promote the human rights to water.

2. Phase out bottled water and...

3. To assert water is a public trust and no privatization of water services will be allowed. She shares how this movement expanded globally outside of Canada and continues today.

This book provided “wise hope” for me as we navigate our changing world. & on a side note it was only 223 pages which after reading 30 books so far this year, was a great read for this summer.

Let me know your thoughts!