Hope Beneath Our Feet: Restoring Our Place in the Natural World (Review)

Have you ever asked yourself the question, “In a time of environmental crisis, how do I live my life right now?” Martin Keogh, a scholar, teacher, and author whose travels take him to bio-diverse places around the world, describes the journey that led to his being able to answer the question from people in all walks of life. So begins the anthology, Hope Beneath Our Feet: Restoring Our Place in the Natural World.

My copy of Hope is only a week old, and already it has the appearance of a treasured part of my library of important books with dog-ears to mark the pages that aroused the most profound belief that I too can change things within my control and thus effect the whole. As every essay has broken my heart wide open, then had me shedding tears of gratitude and joy at the good news, there are many pages with dog-ears throughout the book.

The knowledge that there is a broad community of people who have thought about this question and have found answers calms my fears, lifts me out of despair, and gives me not only hope but faith in our collective ability to create a peaceful world where the overpowering helplessness we may feel, the overwhelming apathy that might cause, will no longer exist.  Instead we will inspire each other by example to consider actions that benefit all of us rather than those that provoke fear and despair.

Hope has broadened my understanding of the word “environment” to encompass every thought, word, and deed and the impact these will have on our planet and each inhabitant while simultaneously narrowing my focus to the choices I personally make in each moment and how each choice affects my environment.

I encourage each of you to consider the question posed by this book.

– Joy Beaver