#blogg100 – What hope is not.

Already in the foreword to the third edition of ”Hope in the dark” by Rebecca Solnit, she writes so many things that I’ve underlined, marked with a star, put quotation or exclamation marks around, making me almost dizzy with the feeling that here is a book, that will surely provide me with both recognition and wonderment, with reassurance and acknowledgement as well as shake me up, ruffle my feathers and make me see life – and society – partly in a new way.

In no way does she ever, throughout the book, deny the horrors of life. The disasters, diseases, the destruction and dangers of life, they are all there. Terrible tragedies; events we would not wish for anyone to have to live through. But at the same time:

”Hope doesn’t mean denying these realities.”

One of the common responses to any person leaning towards hope – including me – is just that: the accusation that the hope, in and of itself, is a denigration of the experiences of someone who has been through hell. And Rebecca has a response, that makes me relax, upon reading:

”It’s important to say what hope is not: it is not the belief that everything was, is, or will be fine.”  

In one single sentence, she validates my sense of what it is I am NOT saying when I remain hopeful, that me hoping is not a way for me to turn my back on all the horrors of existence. Not at all. It is, however, a way of saying: there’s more. At least, there’s the possibility of more.

#Blogg100 challenge in 2017 – post number 2 of 100.
The book “Hope in the dark” by Rebecca Solnit.
English posts here, Swedish at herothecoach.com.