On Hope

[kat_lair]

***

Three quotes on hope this Sunday, because I've been reading and thinking about it lately:


"Hope alone is to be called 'realistic', because it alone takes seriously the possibilities with which reality is fraught. It does not take things as they happen to stand or lie, but as progressing, moving things with possibilities of change ... Thus hopes and anticipations of the future are not a transfiguring glow superimposed upon a darkened existence, but are realistic ways of perceiving the scope of our real possibilities, and as such they set everything in motion and keep it in state of change. Hope and the kind of thinking that goes with it consequently cannot submit to reproach of being utopian, for they do not strive after things that have 'no place', but after things that have 'no place yet' but can acquire one." (Moltmann, 1967: 25, original emphasis)

Full Ref:
Moltmann, J. (1967). Theology of Hope. London: SCM Press


***

"Active Hope is about becoming active participants in bringing about what we hope for. Active Hope is a practice. Like tai chi or gardening, it is something we do rather than have. It is a process we can apply to any situation, and it involves three key steps. First, we take a clear view of reality; second, we identify what we hope for it in terms of the direction we'd like things to move in or the values we'd like to see expressed; and third, we take steps to move ourselves or our situation in that direction. Since Active Hope doesn't require our optimism, we can apply it even in areas where we feel hopeless. The guiding impetus is intention; we choose what we aim to bring about, act for, or express. Rather than weighing our chances and proceeding only when we feel hopeful, we focus on our intention and let it be our guide." (Macy & Johnstone, 2012: 3, original emphasis)

Full Ref:
Macy, J. & Johnstone, C. (2012). Actve Hope: How to face the mess we're in without going crazy. Novato, CA: New World Library.


***

"Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in a lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing that is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore, we are saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our firend or foe as it is from our standpoint. Therefore we must be saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness." (Niebuhr, 1952: 63)

Full Ref:
Niebuhr, R. (1952). The Irony of American History. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.


***

Comments

[milly-gal.livejournal.com]

Hope is the most dangerous of emotions, and if not for it, we'd never try anything new, or aim for somewhere higher than the station we were placed in. Hope can be painful but it's a pain worth going through. It drives ambition and love and creativity. Hope is most definitely my favourite emotion.

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

Hope is dangerous. I like that. I basically want a t-shirt that says that :D You're right, of course, hope of something new, different, better, kinder etc is what drives us. And though we end up in the gutter a lot, the stars are always there.

[milly-gal.livejournal.com]

Hope is dangerous, but if you don't live dangerously, you'll never experience anything new, right? :)

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

Amen to that!

[complexlight.livejournal.com]

Fab quotes!

"Hope is the hardest love we carry"

From the poem Hope and Love by Jane Hirshfield

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

Aren't they. The concept of active hope as something you do is one I think we need more of in these times...

Oh I love the line from the poem as well, goes to see if I can find the whole thing.

[complexlight.livejournal.com]

You're absolutely right - I think a number of things that are thought of as emotions or psychological states are actually much better thought of as practices - hope, self-compassion, even love, maybe. I really like the line by Pierre Reverdy: “There is no love; there are only proofs of love.”

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

Nod, nod, completely agree. I've been thinking/reading/writing about this in terms of leadership. Like Foucault talks about power not as something we possess but as something we exercise, leadership too is more about what you do than what you have/where you are. And in similar vein I've been pondering on power/leadership WITH vs power/leadership OVER other people...

Anyway, that aside, the entire poem was achingly gorgeous and I love that quote also. Thank you for your practice of friendship and sharing :)

[complexlight.livejournal.com]

Oh, interesting - I haven't thought much about leadership, but that totally makes sense. I think viewing these things as practices or behavioural habits that can be developed, is much more helpful (and hopeful) than as qualities we either have or don't have.

Very happy to practice friendship (well, within the limits of my extremely introverted need to spend many many hours on my own with no human interaction!)

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

Practicing active introversion is very important *nodnod* In fact, I now want a t-shirt that says 'A PRACTICING INTROVERT' :D

[apiphile.livejournal.com]

I find hope to be somewhere between terrifying (good day) and poisonous (bad day), because it immediately implies "something I'm not in full control of", which is awful.

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

That's what I found quite interesting and liberating about the concept of active hope because it suggests that it *is* something you're in control of, at least partly, by taking steps toward it, rather than just something you wait for. So while whatever you hope for probably depends on eighty million things you can't control there are still some things you can take charge of. The price is of course that even so things don't always work out and because you hoped and tried the disappointment could be harsher?

[apiphile.livejournal.com]

The price is of course that even so things don't always work out and because you hoped and tried the disappointment could be harsher?

It's not just the disappointment for me, it's the sense that I have fucked it up *by* trying. My mother drilled into my head that if things are meant to work, they will, and then followed it up with "you're just not trying hard enough" about everything she actively wanted me to achieve, so if I try, and hope, at the same time, and things don't work, it's because I tried wrong and ruined something for myself because I'm useless.

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

And that must be a difficult lesson to unlearn. That's like a flip side of internal locus of control. Or actually, like a reverse of fundamental attribution error? You know how most people go 'something bad happens to me -> external reasons, but something bad happens to other people -> due to their internal faults' and it sounds like you're thinking 'something bad happens to me -> internal reasons, something bad happens to others -> external reasons' AND 'other people doing great -> they're inherently great, i'm doing great -> temporal fluke of external factors'??

[apiphile.livejournal.com]

That is EXACTLY it. Reverse FAE. My mother, of course, if something bad happened - external factor. Me - I made it happen by thinking negatively.