Trading Ideology for the Ideal

Utopia can mean both no place and universal place. And the current political climate is both reflective and causal of this. Many people are displaced and others are unwelcome in their own lands. Humanity, at the height of “civilization,” is poised to change the way we collectively live together. The concept of utopia shouldn’t disappear just because we have not been able to achieve it. There is great power in imagining something better. If we only create and focus on the dystopia and destruction of the planet, we lose our window of opportunity to dream up other potential pathways and realities that could manifest. It’s time to move from the locked in space of ideals to the liberated space of the idea.

Ideology is like an operating system, upgradable but still the same essential structure.

Everyone is capable of hacking systems, and, with the right support, inspiration and freedom. While most people do not act from agency -- because of fear, rigidity, peer influence, apathy and distraction -- we all experience windows of potential ways to act. It can sometimes feel as though we are swimming upstream to seize these moments, but once a new route is established the swimming becomes effortless and others can now follow. How can you personally foster the imaginative powers to envision new concepts, thoughts, frontiers and commonalities? In my own work, I frequently see patients who are fastened into negative ideologies concerning their reproductive health. I act as an advocate to assist them in breaking free from the clouds of dystopia to the clear skies of utopia. When given the space to reimagine alternate realities and question the ideal, the reframing of fertility can begin. This is an abounding metaphor not just for our bodies but also for our world.