by Linda Hawes Clever, MD, MACP
Emily Dickinson wrote,
“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all – …
Although I do not always understand Dickinson, I do know that hope, while able to travel far, also stays within us. Hope can lift and warm us.
Ideas about hope have a long history. Plato saw both negative (hope is for the gullible) and positive (anticipating pleasure) elements in hope. Aristotle pointed out that hopefulness can lead to confidence and courage. The Stoic, Seneca, was not enthusiastic about hope. He coupled hope with fear, believing that both of them shackle a person to anxiety rather than allowing them to adapt to the present and develop peace and calm.
More recently, philosophers and researchers suggest that some people are simply wired to be hopeful. Others become mired in false hopes that waste time and effort. For some, layers of recurring trouble have suffocated hope before it had a chance to grow feathers. Others are baffled into paralysis. Some are exhausted.
In tough situations, hope is valuable. As Dickinson said, it sings and it comforts us. Hope can be fuel. With overuse or without a goal, however, hope can dwindle. The 17th century philosopher and statesman Francis Bacon said, “Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper.”
The thing is, hope is not just a concept. It is a project. Hope requires action.
Poet Rosemary Wahlota Trommer observed how hope can move us ahead:
Hope’s secret – It doesn’t know
the destination – it knows only
that all roads – begin with one
foot in front of the other.
One guy tried another kind of action when he needed money. He hoped to win the Lottery using prayer. He prayed and prayed, each time citing a good reason why he needed to win: “Pay the rent” “Fix the car” “Take care of my medical bills.” Finally, after the third fervent request, a blazing light filled the sky and a thundering voice shook the land saying, “Buy a ticket!” Prayer wasn’t quite enough action.
The Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Nicholas Kristof, nailed hope’s process in his memoir, Chasing Hope. He recalls the tragedies and catastrophes he witnessed, from his home town friends to Darfur. He points out that some people misperceive that “hope is a naive faith that things will somehow work out. No, hope is a strategy to follow evidence and achieve the better outcomes that are possible if you work at it.”
Making hope come true takes organizing: check out your values, formulate a goal, gather information, make some plans, gather allies and start small. Small steps then multiply and become bigger, making more and bigger steps, showing up and standing up time and again.
Hope is vision tethered to facts, effort and courage. Hope is belief turned into work. It is not just something we have.
Hope is something we do, often together. Hope is a verb.
This article was initially published in RENEW NEWS Summer 2025 Volume XLII, Issue 1. Reprinted with permission.
Dr. Linda Clever is the founder and president of RENEW, a not-for-profit aimed at helping devoted people maintain (and regain) their enthusiasm, effectiveness and purpose, and author of The Fatigue Prescription: Four Steps to Renewing Your Energy, Health and Life.