Hope, Hoping, and Feeling Hopeful: Let's Discuss

Issue 122

Hope is a word, an idea, and an activity that can, in varying degrees, give a conscious politics practitioner a bit of pause. Just a bit. Off the top, it’s a noun and a verb. Not too crazy, but it adds a layer. A smattering¹ of dictionary definitions of it as a noun includes: “the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best;” “a desire accompanied by expectation or belief in fulfillment;” “something that is hoped for;” “something good that you want to happen in the future;” “a confident feeling about what will happen in the future.” A smattering of dictionary definitions of it as a verb includes: “to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence;” “to feel that something desired may happen;” “to want something to happen or be true;” “to desire with expectation of fulfillment;” “to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence;” “to express the feeling or wish that something desired will happen.”

What stands out to me from this shallow dive into various definitions of hope are 1) the oozing of feeling into most any talk of it and 2) some variation between levels of confidence we have when we are talking about hope — and it’s those levels of confidence I want to address. A nod to feeling on pretty much any level ignites the sensibilities of conscious politics practitioners everywhere, right? Feel that hope! Yet when we traffic in it on a daily basis, when we use the word in its various forms in various ways, there are times when it sounds — and feels — just right and times when my conscious Spidey sense, also known as intuition/gut/inspiration, detects an opportunity to go for something a bit sturdier than hope, to eliminate doubt and establish certainty, which we can do when we separate the feeling aspect from the thinking aspect — as an exercise.

The entire question deepens when we include synonyms for hope like: anticipate; await; expect; aim; ambition; objective; watch for; wish; dream; intend. Hmmm. “In some situations” says Merriam-Webster, “the words expect and hope are roughly equivalent. However, expect implies a high degree of certainty and usually involves the idea of preparing or envisioning.” Cambridge says, “We use hope when we do not know whether something will happen or not but we want it to happen.” And consensus eludes us.

As individuals, we convert all manner of wishes and hopes, dreams and aspirations, thoughts and prayers into shiny, clear intentions. In our lingo, an intention is how we engage the law of attraction and our process and practice of intention-setting ultimately eliminates doubt. We know that what we want to be made manifest will be made manifest because…it is law. Collectively, it’s more nuanced.

…this entire conversation was inspired by a broad range of responses I’ve heard to the newly-minted Democratic presidential ticket of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. I am not here to quash, dampen, or dash anybody’s hope…

I should have said that this entire conversation was inspired by a broad range of responses I’ve heard to the newly-minted Democratic presidential ticket of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. I am not here to quash, dampen, or dash anybody’s hope. What I am here to do is ask that we consider a bit more consciously what we are meaning and saying with regard to talking about hope, hoping, and feeling hopeful. So let’s go from philosophical to practical, phew, with conversations I’d want to have with those who made these comments about hope:

“The presidential campaign has shifted so dramatically that I am feeling quite hopeful.” Feeling quite hopeful? I’m down for as much hopeful feeling as we can generate (so long as it is on the bouncy, optimistic side of things, which this seems to be).

“I feel for real there’s hope.” Great! And. What’re you hoping for? Whatever that is, let’s make it a shiny, clear intention.

“I’m definitely optimistic again…my hope has been reinspired and my faith in the process, too.” Same thing. Hope for what, exactly? Let’s make that an intention, too.

“It is my constant hope.” Screeching halt! I’d be careful here. If by constantly hoping you mean you are jumping around with excitement for what’s coming and are, on purpose, cultivating more of it, never mind. But constantly hoping for something that is wanted without much confidence that it will happen, which is what this sounds like, is like driving with the brake on.

“They are our last hope.” I appreciate the sentiment, I do, but that’s a trap right there because, very generally speaking, in the world of intention-setting, we are compelled to let go of how things happen. So when a how shows up that we can see and be excited about — e.g., a new Democratic ticket — the best practice would be to celebrate and magnify it; it would be to express gratitude for it and the fact that what we’re wanting is manifesting. It would be to hold fast to the intention (what are they the last hope for?) and choose to trust that things can always be made manifest in all manner of ways.

“I feel so much more hopeful about the future. Everyone is feeling more hopeful.” Feel, feel, feel, people. Not gonna interrupt that.

“Let’s hope the energy continues.” And let’s not leave that to chance. The energy, in this sense, is boisterous, enthusiastic, engaged crowds at rallies and droves of excited new volunteers and newly-inspired voters and first-time contributors of dollars and new coalitions of people interconnecting, which everyone who supports the Democratic ticket wants to see continue. But asking how to keep it up actually slows it down. How about responding to every single “How do they keep it going?” with a resounding “Like this!” Then shine every light in the world on all that’s going on. Flood the zone with the voices of its new supporters and with campaign statistics. I’m out of space but would go and on and on here.

“We can only hope.” Not true. We can always intend.

To be sure, hope is a powerful force and is its own thing in electoral politics. But it’s not the only force out there and it’s not the most powerful. That’s all I’m sayin’.

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NOTE: This is precisely the kind of subject to expound upon in this month’s Conscious Politics Free Monthly Training on Tuesday, August 20. Sign up now and forget about it til then.

1. Consulted dictionaries: Dictionary.com; Merriam-Webster.com; Cambridge.org.