"Tis the Season" Of Hope?

Sitting in the audience of loving parents and grandparents, I was surprised to feel tears streaming down my face, accompanied by a powerful rush of emotions. This was the first holiday concert for my youngest grandson. As these sweet and earnest three- to five-year-olds sang familiar songs of the season, I sorted through my emotions. I have been tracking my emotions (https://apps.apple.com/us/developer/the-how-we-feel-project-inc/id1503942025) for years, ever since my friend and scholar of emotional intelligence, Dr. Sigal Barsade, taught me to honor the language of emotional intelligence.

So, what was I feeling? Nostalgia, happiness, contentment—no, I thought, it was hope.

As we face a new year and confront a world full of different strong opinions and perspectives it is easy to feel disappointed, frustrated, depressed, and worried. Yet, here I was, watching these thirty children sing the songs of the season. Some danced and smiled, others were cautious and confused, and some simply looked for the familiar faces of their loved ones. They were the picture of hope. They anticipated loving arms and applause from their families, had implicit trust in their music teacher and confidence their singing abilities. The audience’s faces reflected delight, connection and love.

Could it be that hopefulness is the bridge that can sustain us as we move toward an uncertain future? Hope—a feeling of joy motivated by an image of the future (Spinoza, 1985) might be the answer.  I’m not talking about the false hope rooted in social media memes devoid of reality and weak promises to act, maybe a commitment to try to listen to an opposing view. Often the hopeful quote intends to inspire a click not an action. As Yoda said to Luke, "Do or do not. There is no try."  The kind of hope we need is found in the speech that propelled Martin Luther King to talk about his dream for a better world—a hope that inspired thousands and fueled a civic movement. Hope is not just a holiday cliché. It motivates us and builds our confidence. Hope partners with trust to create change.

So, as we face news reports and witness the disasters of hunger, war, and poverty, when anger and fear arise from divisiveness and hostility, we must look again at the faces of loving parents and open-hearted children and renew our commitment to the future with hope.

To learn more, visit the reference section of my website and read a compelling study on hope: Is There a Problem with False Hope? by Bert Musschenga, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Address correspondence to: Bert Musschenga, PhD, Department of Philosophy, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1105, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands. E-mail: a.w.musschenga@vu.nl