Isti Toq'ah

A yoga teacher and psychologist with birth name Richard Alpert, Ram Dass, reminded us that vulnerability supposed to not be labeled solely as weakness, yet as both strength and presence. He stated, "We often think that vulnerability is a kind of weakness, but there's a kind of vulnerability that is actually strength and presence." Moreover, this related to the two-sided life compass: conscience and consciousness. Wangari Maathai who fought for environment and political freedom in Kenya held tightly and never let go hope over fear. She voiced out that, "There comes a time when humanity is called to shift to a new level of consciousness, to reach a higher moral ground. A time when we have to shed our fear and give hope to each other." (Isti Toq'ah)

When hope is seen as passive notion and pessimistic euphoria, it's actually the most active and optimistic action that ones ever can do in the midst of calamity, misery, and adversity. A writer, feminist, activist, and historian, Rebecca Solnit, believes that hope locates itself in the premises that we don't know what will happen and that in the spaciousness of uncertainty is room to act. (Isti Toq'ah)