Gather At The Well: Cultivating Critical Hope - Lindsey Fuller

We Are For Good Podcast - The Podcast for Nonprofits

When the weight of the world feels nonstop, slipping into survival mode can feel like the only option. But what if there’s a different way—one that’s rooted in honesty, resilience, and real, grounded hope?

Welcome back to Gather at the Well, hosted by Lindsey Fuller, Executive Director of The Teaching Well. In this episode, Lindsey dives into the practice of cultivating critical hope—a powerful mindset that helps human-centered leaders stay resilient and rooted amidst change.

Join us for Episode 2, as Lindsey breaks down ways we can hold space for challenges while still believing in possibility. Think: duality declarations, everyday rituals to re-center your mindset, and showing up with truth and compassion. You’ll walk away with tangible strategies to cultivate hope as a daily leadership practice. Live now 🎧

Episode Highlights

• Somatic Practices for Change Leaders (05:44)
• Inspiration vs. Leadership (13:11)
• Cultivating Critical Hope (23:04)
• Practical Exercises for Leaders (39:20)

(Critical Hope Statements) Affirmations:

• Critical hope asks us to sit with the wholeness of life and the full range of human experience.
• It’s complex. It’s uncertain. It’s the willingness to hold duality—to recognize that two things can be true at once.
• Critical hope means honoring our histories and traditions, while also embracing freedom and imagining new futures.
• It’s about grounding ourselves in reality, while still believing in possibility.
• It’s the audacity to keep going.
• So be audacious. Keep showing up—not just for the mission, but for your team’s morale, their well-being, their hope.
• There is a path forward. And you don’t have to walk it alone.

Episode Shownotes: www.weareforgood.com/episode/cultivatingcriticalhope

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Chapters

1. Introduction to Critical Hope (00:00:00)

2. Capacity Clasps: A Somatic Practice (00:04:05)

3. Inspiration vs. Leadership (00:05:57)

4. The Somatic Practice of Duality (00:10:58)

5. Four Ingredients of Critical Hope (00:18:54)

6. Ancestral Guidance and Spiritual Connection (00:27:24)

7. Black Panther Wisdom and Young Voices (00:28:44)