"Hopium is a drug that dulls our imaginations." Great word and great phrase! I'm adding it to my vocabulary. Agreed, hope pales in comparison to what a catalyzed imagination can bring about. Two quotes in support of what you wrote:
"How can change be manifested if it can't first be imagined?" - Jennifer Hggie
"We can best help you to prevent war not by repeating your words and following your methods, but by finding new words and creating new methods." - Virginia Woolfe
I share your feelings about hope. Hope is the antithesis of activism. It is often a cowardly response, though it is certainly possible to be hopeful and take action at the same time. However, if one is too hopeful, one will see no need for activism. It is too often dismissive, putting a period at the end of the conversation. "Say no more. I have hope."
I tried having hope last time. It was quickly shot down.
So much this. I was devastated in 2016. I could not pull out of it for months. Like a heavy dark pall was over everything and everyone. I vowed that would NOT happen this time. Nor do I have hope. I know things. But hope has nothing to do with it. Magic on the other hand? That is real!
I got into a little trouble by keeping my feelings at bay this time. Developed heart palpitations for several days--even waking up with them. Took me awhile to remember that when that happens to me it means I'm keeping my feelings bottled up. Took a while to figure out how to remove the stopper. Finally I had a terrible nightmare that kept me up half the night. The day after I was at long list able to cry and I've been able to stay with my feelings ever since. And no more heart palpitations! I think enough time has passed now that the feelings are a little less big and easier to hold. Much of the fear has been replaced with sadness, which is also easier to hold.
Oh wow, thank you Perdita, for so exquisitely unpacking the problems with hope and how it creates blinders. Indeed, we must actively cultivate the dreams of seeds.
I think there are some muscular types of hope that give us the energy and courage to act toward new stories. Stephen Jenkinson says, "hope is the enemy of grief" and we Americans are very skilled at finding new and interesting ways of avoiding our grief. Hope foremost amongst them. I'm fascinated this week by how children don't do this. My daughter asked me this week, "why did God make people if we just wreck everything?" The question itself oozes with the grief of an 8 year old who knows it could be another way, doesn't know why it is this way, and doesn't have the power to move things (like most of us). Right now, after prolonged grief and despair, I'm pointing my hope toward rewilding healthcare.
I gave up on hope a long time ago. A friend of mine actually got angry with me! “How can you NOT HAVE HOPE?” Hope doesn’t help. Me anyway. I know miracles are possible (with hard work). I believe in magic. It’s one of the few things/energies I do believe in. So I know we can do this. But hope? No. I know possible. No guarantees though. None. What I trust is Earth. Earth. Ancestors. And all the realms - deeper energy. I’ve been feeling rather calm since the election. Until today. Today I started to feel the pounding heart, the anxiety, the zing zing zing that doesn’t feel good. Nauseous. I sensed anger? for even the men in my life I love! Well, not anger, but irritation? Good men. Who did not vote for . . . I know this will pass because I recognize in me a shift. But let’s not deceive ourselves. It’s time to shore up, pull on our armor - whatever that means to you, and set aside illusions, and hope. ❤️
"Hopium is a drug that dulls our imaginations." Great word and great phrase! I'm adding it to my vocabulary. Agreed, hope pales in comparison to what a catalyzed imagination can bring about. Two quotes in support of what you wrote:
"How can change be manifested if it can't first be imagined?" - Jennifer Hggie
"We can best help you to prevent war not by repeating your words and following your methods, but by finding new words and creating new methods." - Virginia Woolfe
I share your feelings about hope. Hope is the antithesis of activism. It is often a cowardly response, though it is certainly possible to be hopeful and take action at the same time. However, if one is too hopeful, one will see no need for activism. It is too often dismissive, putting a period at the end of the conversation. "Say no more. I have hope."
I tried having hope last time. It was quickly shot down.
So much this. I was devastated in 2016. I could not pull out of it for months. Like a heavy dark pall was over everything and everyone. I vowed that would NOT happen this time. Nor do I have hope. I know things. But hope has nothing to do with it. Magic on the other hand? That is real!
I got into a little trouble by keeping my feelings at bay this time. Developed heart palpitations for several days--even waking up with them. Took me awhile to remember that when that happens to me it means I'm keeping my feelings bottled up. Took a while to figure out how to remove the stopper. Finally I had a terrible nightmare that kept me up half the night. The day after I was at long list able to cry and I've been able to stay with my feelings ever since. And no more heart palpitations! I think enough time has passed now that the feelings are a little less big and easier to hold. Much of the fear has been replaced with sadness, which is also easier to hold.
Oh wow, thank you Perdita, for so exquisitely unpacking the problems with hope and how it creates blinders. Indeed, we must actively cultivate the dreams of seeds.
I think there are some muscular types of hope that give us the energy and courage to act toward new stories. Stephen Jenkinson says, "hope is the enemy of grief" and we Americans are very skilled at finding new and interesting ways of avoiding our grief. Hope foremost amongst them. I'm fascinated this week by how children don't do this. My daughter asked me this week, "why did God make people if we just wreck everything?" The question itself oozes with the grief of an 8 year old who knows it could be another way, doesn't know why it is this way, and doesn't have the power to move things (like most of us). Right now, after prolonged grief and despair, I'm pointing my hope toward rewilding healthcare.
I gave up on hope a long time ago. A friend of mine actually got angry with me! “How can you NOT HAVE HOPE?” Hope doesn’t help. Me anyway. I know miracles are possible (with hard work). I believe in magic. It’s one of the few things/energies I do believe in. So I know we can do this. But hope? No. I know possible. No guarantees though. None. What I trust is Earth. Earth. Ancestors. And all the realms - deeper energy. I’ve been feeling rather calm since the election. Until today. Today I started to feel the pounding heart, the anxiety, the zing zing zing that doesn’t feel good. Nauseous. I sensed anger? for even the men in my life I love! Well, not anger, but irritation? Good men. Who did not vote for . . . I know this will pass because I recognize in me a shift. But let’s not deceive ourselves. It’s time to shore up, pull on our armor - whatever that means to you, and set aside illusions, and hope. ❤️