Hope…is an orientation of the spirit, an orientation of the heart. [It]…is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously headed for early success, but, rather, an ability to work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed.
– Vaclav Havel
With the anniversary of Hamas’ brutal attack on Israel and the devastating war that has followed, coupled with our national election just 32 days away, we at Turning Point wanted to create a project ignited by hope—a hope borne of grief and steeped in purpose.
William Bruggemann, the renowned scholar, wrote that hope is a “tenacious act of imagination.” This concept requires us to remain committed to envisioning a future that transcends our current understanding and invites us to dream freely of new possibilities. Even with broken hearts, we have the ability to hold the complex and often messy truths of our world. We can resist oversimplified narratives that paint conflicts in black and white, labeling one side as entirely “right and good” and the other side as wholly “wrong and bad.” Our hearts are big enough to both honor our own viewpoints and to feel the suffering of those in opposition to us.
We want to help students train their capacity for hope by developing skills that help them step back from their own viewpoints or hold them lightly to make space for other perspectives. Each of us needs to exercise this muscle, because we can easily and understandably lose equilibrium in the face of hurt, anger, and fear—particularly when our illusions and stories of the world come into question.
It is natural to default to survival mode in these situations, which makes it very difficult to conjure the energy to extend ourselves to others on the other side of the divide. At its worst, this reptilian survival brain can make us vulnerable to lashing out at others in an attempt to ensure our own survival. But by practicing and strengthening our capacity for hope and curiosity, we can better navigate these challenging situations and maintain our connection to others, even in times of disagreement.
If we posit hope as a core value and not a feeling, we can equip students—and ourselves—with the skills to connect with others in a community defined by care and compassion. We can support students in developing the emotional resilience that enables them to stay in the room, locate their empathy, and cultivate curiosity, even when their first instinct urges them to walk away or push others away. This is the work hope asks us all to do.
As you know, Turning Point’s essential question this year is, “How can we build bridges?”
With this metaphor at the heart of our efforts, we have tasked middle school students with building a small community bridge to symbolize connection and unity, serving as a reminder of our commitment to engage in positive conflict resolution.
Each middle school Advisory came up with one word representing a skill or strategy for conflict resolution, and representatives from each advisory presented their word and its role in conflict resolution with their classmates in Wednesday’s Middle School Assembly.
These powerful words included:
- Patience
- Compromise
- Love
- Empathy
- Compassion
- Respect
- Cooperation
- Creativity
- Friendship
- Confidence
- Communication
- Accountability
- Growth
- Peace
As a sampling of our students’ reflective work, I invite you to view this short video of Grade 8 students presenting the word LOVE to their peers at the Assembly.
In the coming weeks, each Advisory will decorate a board from the bridge that represents their selected word. The completed bridge, along with decorated rocks, will be placed in the garden.
Once complete, it will serve as a reminder of our commitment to peace and can be used for mindful exploration across all divisions, as developmentally appropriate. I want to thank our faculty and students for their commitment to this positive community project and for continuing to apply our Building Bridges theme throughout the year.
I began this message with reflections on hope by author and poet, Vaclav Havel, who urges us to work for good, regardless of outcome. This hope provides the “true source of the breathtaking dimension of the human spirit and its efforts.”
At its heart, conflict resolution requires that we acknowledge the boundaries of our own understanding and open our hearts and minds to diverse perspectives that can broaden and enrich our insights. It requires courage to persistently circle back to hope, especially when facing uncertain territory. Yet we must trust in the resilience and expansiveness of the human spirit, driven by a sense of purpose and peace.
I look forward to inviting you to visit our community bridge in our school garden. In the meantime, I encourage you to set aside time in the coming days and weeks to engage with your children in curious discussions about words and actions that embody hope and center peace—both for your family and for your wider local and global communities. Together, let us cultivate the tenacious imagination that hope requires, working towards a future that may transcend our current understanding but is rooted in our shared humanity.
Warmly,
Laura
Dr. Laura Konigsberg
Head of School
lkonigsberg@turningpointschool.org