“It's amazing how a little tomorrow can make up for a whole lot of yesterday.”
John Guare
Sky, Alex Israel 2014
1
Let’s begin where we are, without denial or decoration. Life, for all its beauty, can often feel like a series of crises strung together:
“Life is, more or less, an ongoing emergency. We’re haunted by concerns for our future, doubts that our efforts will succeed, and a persistent sense of insecurity…
… Everyday brings new threats to our well-being, and except for those rare moments when we - and the world - feel solid, there’s almost always a background throb of mental unease.”1
This isn’t meant to be dark, just honest. Life is inherently problematic for everyone, and our mental landscapes are regularly clouded because of it.
American Silence, Robert Adams 1965-2015
2
The good news is that we don’t need much to bracket these thoughts and take another step forward. In moments of trouble, even a simple reassurance can feel like a balm:
“You’re not alone…”
“You can do this…”
“Things will get better…”
“This too shall pass…”
The words we long for aren’t new, and they can be the most basic of sentences. They work not because they’re bold or novel, but because they’re ancient. They touch an old part of us that has always longed for stability - familiarity is their strength.
3
Of course, when encouragement comes from someone else, it carries a special kind of magic. A voice outside our own can feel like a lifeline, but we can’t always wait for others to say what would be constructive for us to hear.
Our friends and family may want to help, but they can’t perfectly anticipate the timing we need. Sometimes, we have to care for ourselves and perform the deliberate and tender act of self-rescue.
The Red Barque, Odilon Redon 1895
4
How do we do it?
One of the simplest practices I’ve found is keeping hopeful ideas close to me - little phrases and maxims that rekindle my appetite for possibility. Here’s a candid example from Michel de Montaigne:
Château de Montaigne, 1571 - “People are disturbed not by things, but by the views they take of them.” (Enchiridion, Epictetus)
I’ve learned that clear thinking isn’t always about brute force or “digging deep” - it can be about nurturing a space where good ideas can speak to us. A totem, a picture, a well-placed note - the smallest things can summon up an entire philosophy and reliably guide us back to our own better minds.2
Any ideas, when repeated and embraced, settle in and shape your thinking. The secret is to fill your mind with thoughts of confidence, courage and trust - and by doing so creating an internal architecture that resists the fragility of doubt and cultivates a more durable optimism.
5
I may not have a château with a circular library in it, but I do have this newsletter, and I’d like it to offer you some measure of comfort. Consider these mini-mantras my wooden carvings - simple, sturdy, and there to lean on when things feel unsteady.
Be aware but not troubled.
Soften how you look at things.
Every storm carries a clearing sky.
The walls around you are movable.
The spark of change is belief.
A Final Word
Hope is a bridge between today and tomorrow. It invites us to trust that something good lies beyond the uncertainty - and to bring the best of ourselves to the present moment.
When life unsettles you, don’t lose heart. Take a breath, focus on what it’s in your control, and place your efforts into what truly matters. Keep this in mind as you practice:
Hope isn’t a single decision, it’s an ongoing commitment. It’s something we choose over and over again - a continuous act of faith.
From My Notebooks
01.06.25
Hope is a strategy, and it’s most essential tactic is leaving a light on - a light of sanity, resilience and self-kindness. The light exists not as an antidote to pain, but as a companion to it.
01.08.25
“People come up with more ideas when they experience positive emotions than when they experience negative states… we see more possibilities.”
In psychology, action tendency refers to the pull we feel to respond to emotions in particular ways. While negative emotions often demand specific actions (e.g. if you’re cold ⇢ seek warmth), positive emotions give us something else: the freedom to be creative as well as more trusting and collaborative. That’s where new possibilities unfold, relationships deepen, and we discover strength we didn’t know we had.
01.09.25
Can we learn to, as W. H. Auden put it, “approach the future as a friend”?
01.10.25
Seeds of Hope / S, Erica Rasmussen 2021
If today’s note brought a bit of light your way, consider passing it along. Small moments of insight are gifts, and change gathers momentum when ideas travel together.
The School of Life