Seeds of Hope in a Trouble World

Victor from Truth in Fire © Tim Georgeson

In her latest book, The Beginning Comes After the End – Notes on a World of Change, Rebecca Solnit argues that progressive ideas are like seeds that lie dormant for years or decades and only germinate when fire sweeps over the land. She gives the example of sequoia trees, which “only drop their seeds when fire comes and melts the resin in their cones. In destruction is their regeneration”

Reading Solnit’s book brought to mind the optimism many of us felt coming out of the pandemic, when there was the potential for humanity to learn from the experience and choose a better path.

I chose the theme ‘Turning Point’ for Diffusion 2021, and one of the projects I featured was Truth in Fire, a response by the filmmaker and photographer Tim Georgeson to the catastrophic bushfires of the South East Coast of Australia. Georgeson captured the environmental impact of an unprecedented number of fires initiated by thunderstorms across the Yuin Nation, conveying the use of fire in maintaining and revitalising an ecological balance, as well as its role in the regeneration of plant species.  In Truth in Fire we move from death, the requiem left in the wake of this catastrophic event, to the renaissance of new life and rebirth that the life cycle always brings. Inside these apocalyptic landscapes and transformational ceremonies, we engage with the First Nations' connection to country and feel the importance of trusting the wisdom of their ancient practices. 

Requiem from Truth in Fire © Tim Georgeson

Solnit also finds solace and hope in the ways of the Native Americans, their attachment to the natural world, their kindness towards animals, and the value they place on maintaining their culture and societal harmony over individualism, capitalism and a colonial mentality. Solnit argues that rather than being consumed by outrage at the daily atrocities that dominate our news feeds, we should draw strength from the slow revolution that’s been happening since the 50s, seismic changes in our attitudes to everything, from gender to race to sexuality to science to climate justice. She quotes the words of Antonio Gramsci, who argued that the birthing of a new changed world is a slow process. “The old world is dying. The new one is slow in appearing. In this light and shadow, monsters arise.” She contends that ideas have power, and while those who support them often dismiss that power, those who fear them recognise they can change the world.