“Our human compassion binds us the one to the other – not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future.” – Nelson Mandela
Hope binds people, families, and communities large and small. A conclusion I’ve come to over the past few weeks, is that many, maybe even most people consider hope to be some untouchable force of nature. Whether its intentions good or evil, the common idea that hope comes from an external force is one I’ve come to disagree with.
At this point in my education, I generally feel confident in my ability to define words of the English language and use them appropriately. However, in our recent project, Stories of Hope, I learned the valuable lesson of interpretation. The first step in this endeavour was defining terminology. The terms in question, adversity, resilience, survival, and hope. Pfft, easy. Or so I stubbornly thought. Turns out that when it comes to some words, like hope, the meaning is malleable to whomever defines it. Discussing the complexities of opinion in regards to language is not the point here. It is instead time I reflect on what lessons and inspirations I can and have drawn from stories of hope. And of course, what makes a story of hope.
As I previously mentioned, the first step towards success in this project was to understand and define some terminology. At this point, post completion of the project, I strongly believe that my most significant learning outcomes have been from this first small step. Not only did it lay the foundation for the project, but I also found that once I could apply these words to a variety of texts, my interpretation of a story of hope became clearer and well defined. Our class was split due to the opportunity some of my peers took to visit the Southern United States, Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri. As they learned about stories of hope drawn from historical events within those states, myself and the remaining home stays used our personal interpretations of stories of hope to select examples of our choice. I tried my best to tie in some personal connection to the stories I selected, however that proved difficult considering I’ve not yet faced an adversity worth mentioning in my final product. Instead I chose a story close to home, culturally speaking. In my post on hope, I danced around what a story of hope is and didn’t demonstrate a solidified understanding of my proposed conclusion or purpose for this project. Now thanks to this first keystone, I recognize that in order to decide which stories are those of hope, being able to define what it is is necessary.
fancycrave1 / Pixabay
The final product goal here has been a narrative video telling stories of hope since day one. As per usual the steps towards creating a quality video include a screenplay, storyboard, or something organized similarly depending on the magnitude of the project. As one of the students absent from the trip down south, I had the power of choice with how I executed this project. My two examples come from completely different realms in terms of events and people. Despite their differences, I found similarity in what I later defined as part of the criteria for a story of hope. My first selection was made based off of how close to home and culturally significant to me the story is. In The Name of The Father, the Academy Award winning film starring Daniel Day Lewis released in 1993 depicts the story of Gerrard (Gerry) Conlon. Gerry Conlon’s life was flipped upside down when he was wrongfully convicted for an IRA bombing in the 70’s, the peak of The Troubles. I chose his story because of what I interpreted as the turning point in his story of hope. That point being the outcomes from Gerry overcoming the multitude of adversities he faced. The community he fell back on, further fuelling his resilience and encouraging him to reflect on his story. Thanks to that process of post traumatic growth, we have In The Name of The Father.
Once I had decided my first example, I came to the realization that my one true disadvantage within this project would be in finding footage for my video. Having not been around in 1970’s Belfast I have no original footage relating to the story. In generating solutions for this, I realized that the reason I find Gerry Conlon’s story so impactful is because of the medium in which it was delivered. Film can be a powerful tool in telling stories of hope, especially those based on real people and events. Examples include Titanic, Miracles From Heaven, Precious, and World Trade Center. I went with World Trade Center as my second example. We had previously talked about 9/11 in class and regarded it as a story of hope which I found fascinating. The sheer scale of the event, the number of people affected, and how the intentions were met on the other side make for riveting conversation. Throw hope into it and it becomes that much more interesting. World Trade Center is the film depiction of Sargent John McLoughlin’s 9/11 story. It’s a moving and inspirational story that well reflects the importance of family and community in post traumatic recovery, just like that of Gerry Conlon. While these two examples are vastly different, the key is in community. I wanted to balance the film and real life aspects of my video in regards to 9/11. Often with an event that has so many film depictions, the lessons can be lost in the action. Diane DeFontes provided an interview to the 9/11 memorial documenting her experience in the tower one on 9/11. Her interview concludes with an anecdote on the people she was surrounded by, and the sense of community she felt in her life or death moment.
Stories of hope are defined by the outcomes of overcoming an adverse event, allowing for post traumatic growth. Although, it’s become clear that separating the individual from their story is vital. The individual is not defined by their adversity or even their story. Instead they define themselves post trauma based on how they have grown and who they have become from it. The lessons we can draw from their stories can vary, but at the heart of it, in both the heat of an adversity, or in the long recovery that follows, stories of hope are about the strength of an individual, and the support they accept along the way.
