As we greet a new year, many of us turn to new goals, new visions for what may be. An essential part of this orientation to the future is hope. Using our imagination to conceive of a new existence for ourselves, our family or our community requires a hopefulness about what can be improved.
That is hard right now.
Often we see the concept of hope linked to naivete or a childlike innocence. In fact, opening ourselves to hope after experiencing life’s uncertainty, pain and struggle is about the most mature task we can embark on. Hope is the antidote to cynicism, a prophylactic for apathy.
But perhaps most relevant to weary travelers who have arrived to January 2021, hope allows us to keep going. To trust that despite fatigue deep within our bones, our only real choice is to continue to be open to ourselves, our family and our community.