Jane Goodall — “Hope requires action”

Listening to Jane Goodall on Julia Louis-Dreyfuss’s podcast Wiser Than Me affirmed to me an important lesson that keeps circling through my life — that a life well lived is accomplished by being present.

As I read the sentence I just wrote above again, it feels a little like something we said as kids: No Duh.

But being present isn’t easy. Humans are adept time travelers. We ruminate on the past. We worry about the future. We escape the now by indulging our addictions — scrolling, binging, drinking, eating, snorting, shopping, fucking. Not that we can’t bring the energy of presence to doing those very things. But many of us use them to hide from how we really feel and reinforce our hopeless notions that nothing will ever change.

Julia asked Jane Goodall so many questions about her time spent in the wild and the ways she impacted the world.

More than once, Jane responded with, “I live in the now.” By living in the now, she didn’t dwell on the hardships of the past or the seemingly impossible predicaments of the future. Instead, she used her now moments to take action.

“Hope requires action,” she said.

I know many of us feel a little hopeless when we peer into the future. But if you’re not familiar with Jane Goodall’s life’s work, take a moment to Google her. Or listen to Julia’s podcast. Consider the joy with which Jane Goodall lived her life and all that she accomplished by simply being present with it all. Her presence allowed her to take action toward her hopes for this planet.

Now, imagine if we all focused our energy on the now, and we all began to make choices that aligned with our hopes for a better future.

Seems to me that this would be a wise way to spend our days.

Keep practicing presence, my friends. Your hopes require action — and our most aligned actions happen in the now. ☀️