Very often, people come to me struggling with anger—angry at what someone has done, disappointed by the political world, or disheartened by the actions of a company, institution, or community. I invite them to become quiet for a moment and ask: Do you know why you are so angry? It’s because you care. When you begin to sense that your anger comes from how deeply you care, something changes. Beneath the anger is the heart’s longing for justice, compassion, and a more beautiful world. The same shift is possible with despair. The great explorer Wade Davis said, “Despair is a failure of imagination.” We forget that the creativity of life is immense—and that we are part of it. The story is never over. It just isn’t.
Recently, Trudy and I spent time at the Oslo Freedom Forum, where courageous human rights advocates from around the world gather to share their stories. Many have been imprisoned, exiled, or tortured. They have witnessed terrible violence and injustice, yet they continue to create art, preserve their cultures, organize their communities, and stand up for those whose voices have been silenced. Our work with some of the younger activists is to help them learn not to carry the entire struggle in their bodies and hearts. When we are wholly focused on injustice, it can become difficult to care for ourselves or sustain our work for the long term.
Even Mahatma Gandhi took one day each week in silence. From that place of stillness, we can tend our own hearts and listen more deeply: What will truly be useful? What is the most caring response? What can come from love? At the forum, we heard painful accounts of dictatorship, persecution, and oppression. Yet these stories were balanced by something equally powerful: the moral beauty of those who refused to give up. You could almost weep at the depth of their care, their courage, and the love beneath their commitment.
Jack Kornfield