There is something quite euphoric about stumbling across HOPE in unexpected places.
I took last week ( Feb 17th – 21st 2020) as a start to a year of focus.
And it began by going to Peterborough, speaking to a number of people who I’ve started to make connections with over the past few months Via my Mentor Katy Hawkins. We’ve been speaking on and off for the last year after I attended a Creative Facilitation workshop with Artwork.
I decided in November (2019) that I needed to really hold myself accountable , assess my creative approaches and process and really hone in to the way I want to work as an Artist in Community.
I am so many things. But with the changing social, political and environmental sphere we really need to assess our approach to life and work and how we interact to bring about resilience in smaller communities, more openness understanding and acceptance for all human/animal life and the life of the natural world.
So Here I stand Talking with confidence, because I see the change that is happening in our small Borough of Broxbourne. I see people doing things on the ground, with little recognition and a lot less money then they need. I am starting to see what needs to be done , where the connections are missing and the GAPS. Bridging the Gaps will be so crucial in these next few years. Building upon rather then building new. Forming consistant, relationships and continued questioning of how we have been approaching community lead action for years.
This is where HOPE comes in.
I stumbled across the Hope Wall, I had this moment , looking at the Massive word HOPE in bright Purple lights.. being guided in to a space to sit or lye or leave your hopes..I had a moment of clarity. Almost as if I needed a bit of Hope to pop up somewhere. I took a yoga Mat which was situated to the right of the Sign and read words of Hope for the Planet, for yourself , for your Family.
Evidently, all the written words encourage you to ‘Offer your Hope to God’ which is where my ethics are questioned and my morals are thinking… but in that moment, I only saw HOPE and I needed it to just be for that moment, what i wanted it to be. And I guess that’s the way we should respond to something we see as ‘Art’ , in that moment. It is yours to be in, to question or to sit with. It can be what you want it to be. It is always questionable. And sometimes painful.
…I had been quite euphoric about the fact that this is an exhibition in a cathedral and I’d never really seen a space like this. On reflection, just as I write this, I realise, the word HOPE is curated like an Ulter, an Offering , chairs turned towards the sign of HOPE. Words of scripture guiding you through the chairs to the Mats and finally to the Alter.
Unsurprisingly, I have quite a good relationship with Churches I Grew up in the community at St Pauls Church Cheshunt. I even did an exhibition in the front of the Church back in 2011.. because they helped me collect materials for my final show installation. I don’t think I felt any more then an affiliated person back then, I couldn’t work out what I believed, I guess I quite enjoy the idea that churches are becoming spaces of community more often.
Its reflective having come from growing up in a small church with Catholic heritage and not seeing the other side of religion until I was much older. I can see how some will see HOPE in a cathedral/church or faith community as Ironic in this day and age. Negative and questionable spaces , unsafe for those who have been on the inside of abuse of those with Money and power.
Before I left Peterborough I met up with Katy and we disscussed how her mentor Kate Genever whom I must speak with and suggest you read her blog..Katy was saying how she had spoken about the word Hope as Passive in the sense of ‘having hope’ thinking something will come with no action.
This really sat with me over the weekend. How we have so much hope for things to change but wait for others to change it for us A LOT of the time. When reality is, in this day and age we can not wait for hope to arrive. We have to use hope as an action word and continue on our path in a way that reflects the positive changes we wish to see.
If we just sit and wait for someone to tell us it is OK to do that thing or speak to that person or start a practice just to understand the world. Then we might never see the best version of ourselves. we become negative and heart broken with the world. we sit in Grief rather then using it to fuel our actions positivley. See my Notes on conversations with Charley Genever and Ruth Campbell-ekins I May write more but I love my notes as they are at present.
There is so much to understand about the edges of society. Those that I am not seeing day to day those who are not represented in the wider world nor in our smaller governing structures, panels, councils those that run what we’d see as ‘ normal society’ they do not reflect ‘society’.
In *Permaculture…you’d learn to Observe where you are first. to acknowledge the already exsisting landscape of nature, community , people things that exsist but you never new. Considering the edges is becoming relevant in and out side of the Garden. Edges is something I will talk more on . But Hope is something I’m constantly in contact with.
‘In essence, the edge effect refers to the zone where two distinct environments meet within an ecosystem. This area, where the zones interact, is sometimes referred to as an ‘ecotone’. It benefits from inputs from both the environments, making ecotones among the most biodiverse and fertile areas on a *permaculture plot’
We can reflect so deeply on the Eco systems of the natural world and begin to dissect how these systems reflect in our social, man made and constructed lifes . We can begin to question what made us, us and who made us and what we’ve been fed (metaphorically and literally) We can begin to understand what we’re breeding in and out of our minds and we can bridge and break down barriers built by years of re-inforced fear and negativity. But only if we observe what is, look for diffrences and build stronger more powerful grass root community actions.
Hope is not a word for me. It is a feeling, Hope can not describe my Joy for life at this present moment. My Grief responds to that idea of the word ‘Hope’ without Hope I would not do. I would dwell in what is. I want to DO what feels like the ‘Hope’ we’re all waiting for.
I think this is why I go places and talk to people and have all the conversations I do.
Because I feel Hope, But I take that Hope and turn it to action, which leads to less waiting and more people doing.
We can no longer continue to Moan about something that is not being done, without doing something about it. That’s pretty much sums up my beliefs.
If you live in this world and Moan about someone or something that you think others can fix..
They probably wont. so you better fix it yourself.
People and communication come in to this..but that’s a whole other story.
Doing things for positive change. Thats a process, a Journey , that’s DISCOVERY< another word that’s been floating around the edges of my brain. DISCOVER! (Note to self write about your conversation with Katy on Discovering the edges in community)
Discover your home, your peoples, you spaces and places.
I feel sad for those who have not discovered or are unable or have not been given the chance to search for more. Because there is always more in this world. Not more things Not more ‘STUFF’ More energy, love, good vibes and connections to be made. There are so many more in our Borough , so many communities that are doing amazing things under the surface.
Those that can. We have to discover them. We have to go and find them .
We have to pass the mic and raise their Voice.
For they are the ones which bring richness in to our lifes and make us question ourselves so we can build metaphorical bridges of love, compassion and joy in creating the change we wish to see in the world.
So Hope. You are welcome . Just make sure you are not waiting for your God or that person to change this world. Don’t wait for Hope to come. We have to use that feeling for a better more proactive drive for change . We do it for those who can not take action or have lost their voices or have no Voice in certain spaces.
I will Make space for others. I’m gonna keep pushing for opportunities.
You’ll find me here..Writing things. Mondays at 6pm?
That’s now my deadline… I hope.. NO I DO!
Thanks for being here.
I may add to this as I find resources and or realise I missed something relevant.
Rosanna.
*Women in permaculture Free Resource
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