Hope in Troubled Times:The New World Is Already Being Born

Don't deny the present, nor make the present the only future you can imagine.

We are living through extraordinary times. Around the world, people are confronting war, climate disruption, political polarization, threats to democratic institutions, and deep uncertainty about what comes next. It is tempting either to become overwhelmed by what we see or to turn away from it altogether. I don't believe either response serves us.

Recently, in our women's group, we had one of the deepest conversations we've had in a long time. We talked about how we are living with these times physically, emotionally, and spiritually. How do we remain awake to what is happening without being consumed by it?

For me, spirituality does not mean denying darkness. It doesn't mean saying, "Everything is happening for a reason," and therefore we don't have to concern ourselves with suffering or injustice. Nor does it mean feeding our fear every day until fear becomes the reality we inhabit. We must be able to see clearly and still choose hope.

I believe we are between worlds, witnessing the ending of an old world while something new is struggling to be born. Endings are rarely tidy. Old structures don't necessarily disappear quietly. What no longer works can become increasingly visible.

Perhaps some of what we are witnessing is not simply destruction. Perhaps it is also revelation.

We are seeing what needs to change. And that changes the question from How do we get back to the way things were? to What kind of world are we being called to create now?

There is a strange paradox in this moment. I feel tremendous urgency, yet I also feel we cannot force the birth of what is coming. We can, however, prepare for it.

Waiting does not mean doing nothing. It means building the foundations of the world we want while the old structures are changing. We can strengthen our communities, care for one another, speak truthfully, protect what matters, create beauty, heal ourselves, and participate rather than withdraw. Most importantly, we can begin living the values of the future before the future arrives.

As an astrologer, I am fascinated by what is occurring in the sky. Three of the great transpersonal planets—Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus—are forming an unusually harmonious configuration unfolding over several years, which suggest relatively unobstructed movement, but that does not mean everything will be easy. Profound transition can also bring profound disruption.

Pluto in Aquarius symbolizes transformation in collective structures and our relationship to power. At other times in history, like the American and French revolution, it began with a misuse of power and then power to the people.

Uranus in Gemini can symbolize radical developments in communication, technology, ideas, and the movement of information. Neptune in Aries brings spiritual and visionary themes and asks another question: What vision will inspire us to act?

The planets are not telling us what must happen. They describe possibilities. And I find those possibilities enormously hopeful. We are not meant to sit back and wait for the planets to save us. We are participants in the transformation.

I sometimes hear spiritual people speak about "holding the light." I believe in that deeply. But holding the light doesn't mean pretending darkness isn't there. Light allows us to see.

Our task is not to fight darkness by becoming dark ourselves. It is to become increasingly conscious, to recognize fear without allowing fear to govern us, hatred without answering it with hatred, and powerlessness without surrendering our power.

Perhaps the great struggle of our time is also taking place within our consciousness. We can change fear or love, separation or connection, domination or cooperation, and despair or creation.

None of us knows exactly how this period will unfold. But we are the generations living at this threshold. Maybe our responsibility isn't to know exactly how the story ends, but to decide who we will be while it is being written.

Pay attention. Speak up. Prepare. Gather with people you love. Create communities that embody the values you want to see in the larger world. And don't give your imagination entirely to the future you fear. Give it to the future you love.

Because the new world doesn't begin someday after the old one finally disappears. It begins wherever we begin living it now.