There are jokes going around on Facebook about how January 2025 has been the hardest decade so far. The month as been packed with challenges. The LA fires have destroyed over 10,000 homes so far and twenty-eight people have died. All due to a severe drought and extremely high winds caused by climate change. Here in Colorado, we had similar conditions two years ago, and a fire with 100 mph winds destroyed 1,000 homes with two people dead in about three hours.

It snowed in New Orleans and Florida, for heaven’s sake. I used to teach meditation in Asheville, NC, my home state, and never would anyone imagine the mountains would be affected by a hurricane, but my peeps there say Asheville and the western mountains will never be the same. Never.

These are just a few examples of extreme weather around the world. Plus, two wars are waging, although a ceasefire has just begun in Isreal and Gaza. And we won’t even talk about politics in the US.

How do we find hope in such times? How do we comfort ourselves? How do we find inspiration?

One answer is visionary fiction. Founder Jodine Turner defines it this way: “Visionary Fiction embraces spiritual and esoteric wisdom, often from ancient sources, and makes it relevant for our modern life. Gems of this spiritual wisdom are brought forth in story form so that readers can experience the wisdom from within themselves.” (www.visionaryfictionalliance.com)

In my memoir, Three Awakenings, I talk about some of my own spiritual studies and experiences and those of others (with their permission) to illustrate the story behind the stories. I write fiction based on my meditation experiences, travels to sacred sites, and time spent with ancient artifacts.

Jon M Chu, director of Wicked, really nailed why we need visionary art when he accepted the award for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement at the 2025 Golden Globes. “…it shows us how important making this stuff is,” he concluded. “In a time when pessimism and cynicism rule the planet right now, we can still make art that is a radical act of optimism, that is empowerment and that is joy. So when we discover that maybe the world isn’t exactly the way we thought it was…that maybe we have that courage and that strength to not give up but to rise up. Take the road off the yellow brick road and maybe discover we can fly.”  (https://people.com/golden-globes-2025-wicked-wins-cinematic-and-box-office-achievement-award-8769536)

I’ll be offering a course in Satiama’s Wisdom Academy on writing visionary fiction soon. Hope to see you there.