Bri, this piece cuts deep in the most grounding way. Your framing of hope and despair as two hands clinging to the same thread is disarmingly honest — a quiet dismantling of the stories we’re sold about resilience. Letting go of hope, as you suggest, isn’t about nihilism, but about clearing space for something more rooted: participation, presence, and a kind of radical trust in not-knowing. The imagery of doubt as an ocean and the future as a field is especially powerful — it flips the narrative from fear to possibility without ever sugar-coating the uncertainty.
What struck me most was your reflection on the success case — how foreign, even frightening, it can feel to imagine things going right. That moment of vulnerability rings so true for anyone who’s built their identity around surviving rather than thriving. It’s an invitation not just to act, but to reimagine what we believe we’re worthy of. Thank you for writing with such clarity and compassion.
Thank you so much for this reflection, Sar! I am honored that it has resonated with you, and I deeply appreciate you being here and sharing your thoughts. 💖
Thank you for all you poured into this, Bri! You got me thinking deeply on this. Hope is catchy word. I love being invited to view it differently. Yet I come back to it, in my own vocabulary.
I hear you!! Thank you so much for stepping into my shoes for a moment. I am perpetually frustrated by the lack of precision of the written language, and simultaneously so delighted that it can result in this kind of discourse where we get to dig deeper into what we really mean when we say this word or that one. 💖
Bri, your writing is so lovely I always like to read very very slowly so that I can savor each word, each thought, each turn of phrase. Profound! This one was particularly powerful for the day and age in which we are all living and coping. Thank you! May you know what a gift your writing is to all of us.
Bri, this piece cuts deep in the most grounding way. Your framing of hope and despair as two hands clinging to the same thread is disarmingly honest — a quiet dismantling of the stories we’re sold about resilience. Letting go of hope, as you suggest, isn’t about nihilism, but about clearing space for something more rooted: participation, presence, and a kind of radical trust in not-knowing. The imagery of doubt as an ocean and the future as a field is especially powerful — it flips the narrative from fear to possibility without ever sugar-coating the uncertainty.
What struck me most was your reflection on the success case — how foreign, even frightening, it can feel to imagine things going right. That moment of vulnerability rings so true for anyone who’s built their identity around surviving rather than thriving. It’s an invitation not just to act, but to reimagine what we believe we’re worthy of. Thank you for writing with such clarity and compassion.
Thank you so much for this reflection, Sar! I am honored that it has resonated with you, and I deeply appreciate you being here and sharing your thoughts. 💖
Desire can be a wonderful part of life, something to savor for its own sake.
And hope can be very important in helping us move forward as it may also help us cling to an unhealthy past.
One of things that comes up for me about hope these days is that “hope is not a plan.”
oh I LOVE that!! Hope is not a plan. Thank you Matisse. Brilliant, catchy, succinct phrasing. I will integrate that into my worldview.
Thank you for all you poured into this, Bri! You got me thinking deeply on this. Hope is catchy word. I love being invited to view it differently. Yet I come back to it, in my own vocabulary.
I hear you!! Thank you so much for stepping into my shoes for a moment. I am perpetually frustrated by the lack of precision of the written language, and simultaneously so delighted that it can result in this kind of discourse where we get to dig deeper into what we really mean when we say this word or that one. 💖
Bri, your writing is so lovely I always like to read very very slowly so that I can savor each word, each thought, each turn of phrase. Profound! This one was particularly powerful for the day and age in which we are all living and coping. Thank you! May you know what a gift your writing is to all of us.
Thank you Stephanie! Thank you for being here and sharing your reflections. I admire and appreciate you!
Holy humble doubt
questions clingy fake hope dope.
Promises nothing.
...
Try, tend, engage with
possibility posse.
Wield wide angle lens.
...
Fertile future field,
plant, feed good seeds, come what may.
Garden ground ready.
Marisol, thank you for your delicious words! I have been savoring them. Thank you for being here. 🤍