Not unlike Dr. Jane Goodall, probably the question I am asked more often than any other in my role as Mrs. Green, is: Do you honestly believe there is hope for our world? For the future of our children and grandchildren? After reading Jane’s book The Book of Hope – A Survival Guide for Trying Times, I now answer “yes” more than I used to.
This book is, indeed, a survival guide for these trying times. As for me, I have never needed it more. The headlines we read and hear every day relative to the devastating and relentless impact of climate change don’t even begin to delve into the depth and breadth, and even dire and devastating shape we are in as a planet. These headlines seem to be a part of every newscast these days and even print media about water, drought, and about extreme weather destroying people’s lives, some of them forever, and it is challenging for me to have hope. But I am Mrs. Green, so I seek to find the people I trust to find the hope I seek.
So why read this book? Here is a brief excerpt from the book that I hope inspires you to visit your local bookstore (Bookman’s, Antigone, Mostly Books), purchase the book, and read it:
“Sometimes I think, ‘Well, why on Earth do I feel hopeful?’ Because the problems facing the planet are huge. And if I analyze them carefully, they do sometimes seem absolutely impossible to solve. So why do I feel hopeful? Partly because I’m obstinate. I just won’t give in. But it’s partly also because we cannot accurately predict what the future might bring. We simply can’t. No one can know how it will all turn out.”
I selected that particular quote because I, too, am too obstinate to give up. I have to live with hope. I simply have to.
So instead of telling you what the book is all about, let me extend my heartfelt invitation to you to read the book. In it, you will find answers to questions such as what hope is, Jane’s four reasons for hope, the resilience of nature, the power of young people (I think this gives her the most hope) and so much more. This is not a book to sit down and read from cover to cover. This book is to be savored, cherished, and read in small stints for the brain to process and the heart to embrace. And I sincerely hope it brings you as much peace as it has for me.
From about the age of five, Gina has been on the path of being a disruptor for good. A dreamer at heart, Gina is madly and passionately in love with this great planet of ours and is tireless in her efforts to preserve it.