Freeing the Spirit of Hope and Imagination

Chicago is a living exhibit of imagination and resourcefulness, of civic spirit at work within individuals and among institutions. The physical and social infrastructure manifests the creativity, choices, and investments of citizens from generation to generation. Where hope is alive and connections abound, the inventory of the possible expands. Individuals and groups share vision and invest energy and resources. New buildings are developed, new businesses started. Parents organize a neighborhood arts club where children learn to express their dreams and ambitions. Teenagers set off for college, planning to return to serve their communities. Life is honored, community expands.

Hope is the vital energy that builds confidence and encourages investment. Hope brings enormous value to the future of the city. Hope, the willingness to celebrate what can be, generates remarkable resources for creative connections. Hope alone is realistic because it perceives the scope of our real possibilities. Hope does not strive after things that have no place, but after things that have no place as of yet, but can acquire one.

Above all, hope is a choice — not a feeling. We can tune ourselves to the frequency of hope by the questions we ask and the questions we live. Consider: What dreams or whispers are at the heart of your own life that may be seeking your commitment? What do you want to learn? What impresses your heart right now? What small change could you make that might make a big difference? How could you make solidarity with a stranger a daily practice? Who might stand with you? What will it take for us to create a just economy, a global community, in which no one is wasted, in which violence and addiction have lost their power?

Imagine Chicago’s work is living proof that peoples’ highest aspirations are possible to translate into action. Some of our practices and tools for freeing the spirit of hope and imagination include:

· Involving the "public" in learning communities that motivate change, make information available in an accessible way, and respectfully engage marginalized participants, including young people.

· Tapping into the lived experience of community members and finding ways for them to collaboratively and positively inquire about their experiences.

· Asking provocative, constructive questions and listening to responses with respect, delight, confidence, and relaxed high expectations.

· Celebrating and communicating the past, as an inventory of possibilities for the future.

· Encouraging participation and leadership from multiple generations, so that a vision of the future is present and highly visible.

· Connecting individuals, institutions and systems with common values and goals.

· Minimizing models of control and dependence, by encouraging personal initiative, and validating each individual’s and organization’s skills, knowledge and values.

· Integrating artistic expression into actions, so that people discover themselves as creative agents.

· Recognizing spirituality as a primary resource for hope.

· Re-enchanting and expanding the language of citizenship to include civic imagination, civic literacy, and learning for public life.

Taken together, these practices help to connect individuals, groups and the city as a whole in a way which is personal but can renew whole systems from within. Together, we can create a culture of public learning and action, which continuously energizes and harnesses hope and imagination as resources for public good.