A bit ago I took an online course structured around Jacqueline Novogratz' book, Manifesto for a Moral Revolution: Practices To Build A Better World. One assignment was to draft your own Personal Manifesto. I finished the course; it was great, as is the book, but I don't really feel like I made it past a start on my manifesto. The very notion of even having a personal manifesto feels so grand, even a little pretentious. Which reminds me of a conversation I once had with a friend during which I noted my resistance to something as being rooted in my take on it as pretentious. To which she replied, "But, doesn't everything that's intentional risk seeming a tiny bit pretentious?" I've spent years trying to investigate and understand what she meant, and whether I agree. But maybe that's just an attempt at self-recusal as to my own pretentiousness in the having and sharing of a manifesto.
A Personal Manifesto (A Work in Progress)
I believe that hope – the belief that each of us has the power to make things better – is not only a strategy to spark and drive change, but perhaps the most important strategy we have at our disposal.
The absence of hope fundamentally inhibits our ability to envision – and manifest and ensure – progress toward a better tomorrow. In fact, no movement has ever achieved change without hope at the core of its identity and its efforts.
Hope isn't just a belief though, it’s a practice that involves translating belief into action. To exercise hope is to:
Risk one’s own reputation, comfort, sense of self, and even safety, in the name of something bigger than self-interest
Articulate a vision for a future in which progress has been made on our most pressing challenges and the possibility for greater change endures
Resist the seduction that comes with solving problems for others and enlist people in partnership in pursuit of real and meaningful possible change
Manage, with resilience, the dynamic tensions and dangers of a group, team, society, or world in the throes of uncertainty
Let go of being right in favor of being present and open to change
Mindfully and simultaneously accompany others as mentor, guide, learner, confidante, and witness
Hope requires listening and compassion, empathy and acceptance of impermanence. It calls for a balance between positivity and realism. It demands compassion and inclusivity. It’s neither prescriptive nor singular, not ethereal, not naïve.
While change is both persistent and inevitable; positive change takes commitment, and the equally persistent practice of hope.
I'm curious what would make it into your manifesto; what beliefs or views feel central enough for you to include? Happy to have your kind feedback on mine. Just be gentle, my pretentiousness is delicate. : )
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