There’s a lovely quote by Rebecca Solnit, “to hope is to accept despair as an emotion but not as an analysis. To recognize that what is unlikely is possible, just as what likely is not inevitable.”

Absurdism to the rescue!

This reminds me of the definition of bravery, too.

(Wildly paraphrased) Fear is important. It keeps us alive. True bravery, though, is being fully aware of that fear and not letting it stop you from doing what’s right.

Hope is also about perspective.

“Oh no, the world is being run by so many idiots who have no idea how anything works!” can be devastating or hopeful, depending on how you look at it.

You can either focus on the damage they can do, or you can focus on how their incompetence means they’re likely easier to unseat from positions of power than many think and that they constantly shoot themselves in the foot.

My new years resolution was to be more optimistic, I may have chosen the wrong year for this resolution

Positive Nihilism: Nothing matters and therefore everything does