Last week we had the pleasure to be in the audience for Cmdr Chris Hadfield’s inspirational talk at University of Toronto. I know I was not alone in feeling great, stunned, and excited; he is a charming and informed speaker. He spoke to the importance of planning for failure and the importance of personal competence. He shared his origin story from dreaming child to super-Canadian. He shared images taken from the Space Station and Canada’s role in building that structure. There were many great speaking points that came out of the talk, and I came away hopeful.

It is only been within the last few years that I have started to feel the positive sensations of being hopeful. To hope for something, for me, was historically to embrace disappointment. I did not have the ability to make things happen; I wasn’t worried about controlling the outcome just to have access to its possibility. As a result of embracing the potentiality of hope, I left myself open to the insecurity of being the source of my disappointment — to the fear of not being good enough. I let that anxiety stand in the way of my accomplishments and gifts. Going forward, I plan to focus on the latter, to put energy into the positive rather than rehash the negative.

Of the VOY episode called Hope And Fear (Ep 4×26), 7of9 actress Jeri Ryan recounted, “It was an interesting show because the crew’s hopes were raised so high that they’d get home and then they were dashed again.” I won’t speak to the episode too much as we are watching through the series and I don’t want to spoil it for Andie. Suffice it to say, Janeway is doing everything she can to get the crew home and a foreshadowing of the slipstream technology used in Andromeda.

Cmdr Hadfield stated that the best way to have success was to plan for (and be prepared for) all potential failures. In doing so, you have the person competence to handle the future and therefore there isn’t much left to fear. In terms of our Holodeck Follies show, I am very hopeful. I am going to continue booking great acts, refine our improv craft, and have fun with the audience within the Star Trek world. I am going (to learn) to be patient and accept the natural organic growth required, and going (to learn) to be less fearful of that unknown time factor.

We have some great news to share in the next two weeks and I am hopeful that our excitement will become contagious. We have created a newsletter (signup through Mailchimp) where we will share future updates, give fans advance show notice, and offers. Stay tuned and stay hopeful!