“Hope, the emotion just one step removed from fantasy.” — overheard this morning
Hope
A blog dedicated to the joy and adventure of thinking (and often spiced with humor).
A blog dedicated to the joy and adventure of thinking (and often spiced with humor).
“Hope, the emotion just one step removed from fantasy.” — overheard this morning
That sums it up well. I think it was Pema Chodron who advised that we should abandon all hope because hope is an addiction that causes suffering to continue.
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Indeed it is. I love Chodron!
Robin, the ancient Greeks had something like a two or three hundred year long debate about hope. One side argued that it sustained people through bad times. The other side said it both made people lazy (because it encouraged them to do nothing but hope for better times), but that it also deluded people into thinking things would get better when they would not.
Because of the debate, there were two variations on the Pandora’s box story. In the one, she releases hope and it proves to be a blessing. In the other, it proves to be the worse evil of all.
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This definition of hope appears to come from a source that might have already abandoned it. It is also ironically a more dogmatic view than those who keep hope. A hopeful person has no firm knowledge that her hopes will come to pass, but hope may help guide her toward action and perseverance toward those ends. But to proclaim definitively that hope is just one step away from fantasy is to say something that might itself be unknowable and steeped in hubris and perhaps a little snark. Here’s to Pandora, the hope she released is a blessing.
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Hi Lona, good to see you! I’m curious: How many definitions of hope are their and what definition do you suppose was being used by the person I overheard yesterday?
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I am not sure I am qualified to answer, but I did meet someone who met hope. Check this out, I think y’all might like this
https://voyagecities.wordpress.com/2018/08/09/mr-hope/comment-page-1/#comment-315
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Lona, thank you so much for linking back to my blog, that was very kind of you.
Such an interesting discussion of hope on the other blog!
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Hope does keep us alive, doesn’t it? Yet I find it difficult to hope and not expect!
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Me too! I wonder if it’s actually impossible.
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I keep wondering!
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