~the audacity of not hoping~

~~~~

A sunflower...

(a slice of one that reseeded in the neglected vegetable bed in the side garden)

...showing off it's many colors.

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Hope.

...to cherish a desire with anticipation, to desire with expectation of obtainment, to expect with confidence...trust.  A dictionary's definition.

I was thinking today about how much of what we observe in our lives is a narrow slice - a slice of a friend, a slice of bread, a slice of insight, a slice of life.  Slices of pies, slices of cakes.  A slice of pizza.  Maybe we long for more, wish for it, hope for it - but often it's the slice that we get.

So it goes.  Fleeting experiences, plates that are filled to overflowing, confusing slices, no room for more than a slice, mysterious slices of the world.

~~~~~ 

Oddly (but perhaps not so?) -- Barack Obama's campaign based on 'Hope' bugs me.  Maybe his book based on hope bugs me too.  Perhaps Wikipedia's thoughts on Hope reminded me of why:

Hopefulness is somewhat different from optimism in that hope is an emotional state, whereas optimism is a conclusion reached through a deliberate thought pattern that leads to a positive attitude.   

Again, from Wikipedia:

In his speech addressing the Democratic National Convention in 2004, Obama said:

In the end, that's what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope?  John Kerry calls on us to hope. John Edwards calls on us to hope. I'm not talking about blind optimism here -- the almost willful ignorance that thinks unemployment will go away if we just don't talk about it, or the health care crisis will solve itself if we just ignore it. No, I'm talking about something more substantial. It's the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a millworker's son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too. Hope in the face of difficulty. Hope in the face of uncertainty. The audacity of hope![4]

I have grown cynical.  I don't think hope alone brings us much of anything, although perhaps it can soften the edges of our emotional worlds.  Does that make me a terrible person?  I would hope not (irony!).  I am paying close attention to Barack Obama and his campaign, and I am trying, genuinely trying, to see past the hope.  Optimism I can take - so bring on the optimism (his trip abroad was optimistic I think).

So, is it odd not to hope?  Should I write a book on The Audacity of Not Hoping?  Would anyone buy it, much less read it?  Perhaps this is just what is left in me after a year of loss and a summer of difficulties and disappointments.  Perhaps this is okay.  Others might think so, perhaps the newly appointed Library of Congress' 16th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry might think so.   

~~~~~

Hope by Kay Ryan

What's the use
of something
as unstable
and diffuse as hope—
the almost-twin
of making-do,
the isotope
of going on:
what isn't in
the envelope
just before
it isn't:
the always tabled
righting of the present.

~~~~~

Comments

[John B.]

Thanks for this post, Pam.

I'd just say by way of response that hope isn't a passive activity--it's not the same thing as fate. To sit back and think, 'Oh, Obama will take care of us," is not what hope entails--that really would be a cultist-like attitude toward things. I'd politely demur from Wikipedia's definition of hopefulness--to say it's an emotional state implies that hopefulness is ultimately irrational, and I'm not so sure that that's entirely fair.

Here's an alternate definition: Hope is the belief that one's actions in the direction of a goal can lead to its eventual achievement. It's like the old saying that people make their luck. Hope is that way, too.

[Benjamin]

I've recently been working on some ideas like this in my book, or similar ideas. Hope is only one key ingredient to living and learning our places, our lives--the (sad) fact is we seem to require the "bad" stuff. Without darkness, you cannot see light? I think melancholy and a bit of cynical realism is very healthy--it leads to introspection, questioning, deeping of thought and realizations; it helps you get to know yourself more. It leas to hope, and hope leads back to melancholy. Yin and yang, right?

[mr_subjunctive]

I would *totally* buy a book called The Audacity of Not Hoping. (Maybe The Audacity of Despair?) Unless it were supposed to be secretly inspirational in some way, in which case maybe not so much.

[Pam]

John B, right now I can't go with 'People make their luck'. I hope this means that I'm not becoming a pessimist - but I think sometimes people work hard, are good people - and shit happens (Isn't there a bumper sticker/t-shirts out there that says 'Shit Happens'. I guess, right now, that I can't help but feel that hope only takes you so far - and that perhaps it is foolish to think that it will take you further. (As you know, I'm not in a great mood these days, so please keep that in mind).

Benjamin, I would agree - and am definitely feeling a bit emerged in this less hopeful side of life. I'd love to hear more about your book sometime.

Mr. Subjunctive, I promise that if I write a book titled 'The Audacity of Not-Hoping' - I would eliminate any and ALL inspiration from the text...