Hope

Two pieces about hope that are worth sharing. I don’t think there is anything harder for me these days (and by that I not only mean the past weeks, but the past years) than trying to remain hopeful in general.

First is a Wired essay about hope by Laurie Penny:

Hope is not thinking positive thoughts. Hope is not self-delusion. Hope is clinging to the life raft and kicking, even when there is no sight of land. Hope is a muscle. Like most muscles, it hurts like hell at first, but it gets easier as you get stronger, and you get stronger the more routine, seemingly pointless work you put into it. It is possible. It’s not easy. It takes the sort of work, every day, of doing what needs to be done to care for yourself, your community, your society, even when you resent having to do so and would rather lie down for five minutes or five months or the rest of your life. That’s hope. It’s not a mood. It’s an action. It’s behaving as if there might be a future even when that seems patently ridiculous.

That last sentence captures my struggle very well. But the whole piece is worth a read, check it out!

Second, a podcast! Ta-Nehisi Coates recently was on The Ezra Klein Show and I enjoyed that conversation very much. It’s to the point, it’s not hiding or prettifying anything, and yet Coates manages to highlight some progress that can give you hope in this whole mess that is 2020. I also especially liked their discussion about the state monopoly on violence and what “defund the police” means in context of striving for a nonviolent state and society.