Meg Buerkel Hunn, Advisory Council Chair: Where Are You Finding Hope?

May has been a doozy of a month! The end of another school year brings all kof seedlings to plant out in the garden, I’m just waiting for a span of time to get them planted… I am hoping they may be happy enough to wait until the school year ends and time feels more spacious.

And, just for the ‘fun’ of it,  I opted to take a weekly Olli class about climate change. I’ve learned a lot about the geology of the Sandias and the Jemez mountains from Dr. Carol Hill. Most of us already know a lot about climate change, and, if you’re anything like me, sometimes it is easier to avoid adding knowledge about something we seem, at least individually, to have little control over. But I know Dr. Hill is a knowledgeable and wise teacher, and her class has been helpful in consolidating many of the factors that cause climate change. And that class has pushed me near the brink of despair, anger, alarm, and frustration.

I find myself seeking hope. Hope in nature. Hope in the world. Hope in myself.

Here are a few moments of hope that I’ve collected:

Hope in myself: I’m not ripping out desert globe mallow thinking they’re weeds. Instead, I’m embracing their beauty and remembering they are more native to this place than I am.

 

Hope in the world around me: This past weekend, I picked up my first CSA share (community supported agriculture) from the Indigenous Farm Hub in Corrales – a local organization whose mission is to ‘engage Indigenous communities in creating a network of farmers and families that will strengthen local and sustainable food systems by providing access to healthy foods, build prosperity for farmers and local communities through land reclamation, and reconnect the bond between language and culture to Indigenous practices of agriculture.’ On Saturday, I got to meet two of the farmers, and my bag was packed full of delicious radishes, onions, garden peas, and spring greens. Edible and communal hope.

 

Hope in nature: Every time I hike in the Jemez Mountains, I come back with at least one picture of a tree growing out of rock. This to me is a sign of hope. A hope that nestles into the cracks and fissures of the world, hangs on for dear life, and then grows and thrives.

I wonder where you are finding hope these days?