There’s cause for concern almost everywhere I look. Election day is looming, fear-based messaging abounds, the planet is warming, the job market is cooling, prices are rising, and spirits are falling.
Where in the world do we find hope when it all can feel so…well…hopeless?
A good place to start is Good Folk Bookshop & Cafe. , a neighborhood book store “dreamed up by four friends who love good books and good folks” and coming soon to West Asheville, NC. These four women are turning their collective dream into a reality in a historic craftsman home that will bring people together to read books, sip coffee, nibble on delicious baked goods, and connect with other humans. Books of all sorts will fill their shelves, because they know that being able to see ourselves in the pages of a book matters. This charming old home is being renovated because it has good bones that are eager to support a daring new chapter. Rolling up their own sleeves, they are knocking out walls, pulling up carpets, repurposing spaces, and thrifting for furniture and mismatched mugs, because they know that sometimes the most beautiful way to create something new is to build upon something old.
Theirs is a vision filled with hope, rich with possibility, and expensive to bring to life. Which is why, along with investing their own sweat equity and hard-earned dollars, they are inviting others to help. If you, like me, believe that bringing together good books, good coffee, and good people make our world a better place, then please consider joining me and chipping in to their kickstarter campaign. I can’t wait for our next trip to Asheville to not only visit family, but to find a book, grab a delicious coffee drink, and settle into a cozy nook in Good Folk Bookshop & Cafe.
Maybe feeling hopeless comes from looking too far afield, rather than right next door, down the street, or just around the corner. From standing on the roof to see what terrible things might be coming our way rather than focusing on what is true right here, right now. From doomscrolling about how the world is falling apart rather than marching to the beat of our own drum to help piece together the world that we want. Like bringing a neighborhood bookstore to life.
You want to know where to find hope?
How about a neighborhood bookstore in West Asheville, North Carolina.
