Living i the COVID World... and Beyond #79: Searching for Hope and Inspiration

These have been difficult times.   The world seems fill of war, climate catastrophes, and authoritarian governments trampling on people’s basic human rights.    I have struggled, and maybe you have too, to keep my activism going and to believe that we can make positive change even when faced with daunting political realities.

Usually, I am able find hope within myself and go forward.   This has been much harder in recent times, and I have been actively looking outward for hope and inspiration.

Two recent examples for me, quite different in how they provided hope and inspiration, have been Bruce Springsteen and K-Pop Demon Hunters.

Bruce Springsteen has been quite vocal in his political views, and he has shown up so visibly that he has been attacked by those who disagree with him.   His song, “Streets of Minneapolis”, captured a moment in the anti-ICE protest movement.

Last Tuesday, April 1st, Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band launched their Land of Hopes and Dreams tour in Minneapolis, Minnesota.   Springsteen said during the concert:

“Tonight we ask all of you to join with us in choosing hope over fear, democracy over authoritarianism, the rule of law over lawlessness, ethics over unbridled corruption, resistance over complacency, unity over division and peace over war.”

And the way he said it, with heart and commitment, wearing his emotions on his sleeve as Springsteen is known to do, was inspirational to me.

I was curious about K-Pop Demon Hunters because I had heard that it was very popular.   I finally watched the movie last month.   I did not expect that I would fall in love with the story and the songs. 

In my telling, K-Pop Demon Hunters is an uplifting feminist story with some moral truths in which three young women vanquish the demons through the power of their song.   One moral truth is about the need to show one’s vulnerabilities, no matter how uncomfortable, and if one does, then one’s friends will rally behind them.   However, if you stay hidden then your friends will not know you need help or how to help you.   The second moral truth, related to the first, is the theme to one of the Demon Hunters’ songs and it is that you have to face it in order to fix it.   One needs to face reality squarely, see what is actually going on, to take action to make a difference.

The story of K-Pop Demon Hunters has stayed with me, and I have replayed the songs multiple times.   Each time I listen I get a jolt of hope and sense of possibility.

During these difficult, what have you found that has provided you with hope and inspiration?