Prefiguring is a fancy term for pre-making. To imagine a future and make it happen before it has arrived.

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I am prefiguring my future where I have created a Center dedicated to helping people imagine realistic but aspirational and beautiful futures for themselves and their change-making work.

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The Center for Practical Dreaming is dedicated to turning creative visions, imaginative possibilities, and future-oriented ideas into tangible, real-world outcomes. We move between the idealism of dreaming and the pragmatism of implementation. This center is for people who want to think boldly about the future but also want tools, frameworks, and support to take action and bring their dreams into reality.

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​Instead of framing hope as something that comes and goes, we treat it as a deliberate, disciplined practice—a political stance that allows us to build better futures. It’s not about ignoring struggle but about ensuring that struggle is leading somewhere worth fighting for.

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New Metaphors for Hopeful, Joyful Futures:

• "Gardening a better world" → activism as a process of cultivation, care, and growth.

• "Weaving the future" → interconnected, collective action that builds over time.

• "Dancing toward liberation" → movement as fluid, joyful, and adaptive rather than rigid struggle.

• "Storytelling our future into being" → shifting activism to a narrative of abundance and possibility.

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Hope as A Daily Practice

• Future visioning – Imagine the world we want to live in, not just the one we resist.

• Storytelling – Use art, writing, and media to narrate possible futures.

• Celebration – Acknowledge progress and victories, no matter how small.

• Inter-generational work – Build movements that span beyond our lifetimes.

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Build Community through visioning

• Create spaces of joy within activism (music, art, community care).

• Hold gatherings where people can envision the future together.

• Teach young activists to see hope as a daily commitment rather than a fleeting feeling.

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Build Capacity through visioning

• Develop long-term strategies that extend beyond immediate crises.

• Invest in policies and institutions that reflect hopeful futures (e.g., community-led urban planning, restorative justice models).

• Change movement messaging to be future-facing, not only reactive.

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Use Hope as a Resilience Tool

• Movements often collapse due to burnout when urgency replaces vision.

• Hope can act as an energy source, sustaining activism for the long haul.

• Example: Instead of saying "we must stop climate collapse," we say, "We are creating a world where all ecosystems thrive"—this shift keeps people engaged.