Making hope happen

Even when it’s hard work

Gooooooooood morning, afternoon, or evening, wherever you might happen to be!

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If you’re a free subscriber who’d like access to everything in the PBP archive (plus all paid subscriber posts) for a year, or if you’re someone who’s been waiting for an even more affordable way to support my work, this is your chance!

To take advantage of this deal:

1. Find a buddy who’ll reimburse you for half the normal subscription cost for 1 year.

2. Sign up for a paid annual subscription.

3. Send me your buddy’s email (to mary [[at]] marycflannery.com) so you both get a paid annual subscription at 50% off for 1 year!

If you’re already a paid subscriber and want to take advantage of this deal and share the PBP magic with a friend: no problem. Just follow Steps 1 and 3 above!

And now, back to our regular programming!

This week, I actually want to return to something I posted about on Day 4 of last week’s LIFT-OFF Writing Camp: hope. But upon reflection, I decided this was a topic I also wanted to raise in a post for all my wonderful Page by Page subscribers.

The subject of hope came up in the context of a discussion of grit. Have you heard of it? Ok, sure, it’s a word you can use to describe the coffee grinds that get stuck in your teeth, or the grain of sand that didn’t quite get rinsed out of your salad. But it’s also a word for the kind of steadfast determination that keeps you moving towards a goal despite setbacks, fatigue, distractions, or difficulty.

In her 2016 book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, psychologist Angela Duckworth argued that grit was a better determinant of success and achievement than factors like talent or luck. And while some people may possess a naturally higher degree of grittiness than others, Duckworth proposes that grit is also something that everyone can develop by cultivating 4 things:

1. Interest. If you’re doing things that interest and excite you, you’re more likely to keep doing them!

2. Practice. This means not only putting in the work, but trying to get better at it.

3. Purpose. It’s easier to keep pursuing a goal when you see meaning in the pursuit of that goal.

4. Hope.

And this is where I paused. Because while Things 1-3 above might seem like things you can do something about, Thing 4, ‘hope’, seems more like something you either have or don’t have.

Is hope something you can ‘do’? What is hope, anyway?

If you’re familiar with Greek mythology, you might recall that hope is the only thing left in Pandora’s Box after Pandora opened it and unleashed a host of miseries upon the world. In some ways, that’s a very appropriate image: hope is the thing that’s left. It’s the thing that has to be left if the world is going to keep going. If you’re at the end of your rope, if you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel, you better hope you find a little hope there.

Here’s the thing about hope: it’s often confused with having unfounded feelings of ‘everything’s going to be ok’. But as someone who’s battled depression, despair, and burnout, I can tell you that hope is an act of will. Hope involves taking action. It’s what happens every time you pick yourself up after getting knocked down, and it’s the thing that makes you pick yourself up. It’s the chicken and the egg.

Having hope takes practice. A lot of the time, you have to make hope happen.

At this particular moment in time, when the world is both literally and metaphorically on fire, having hope probably feels a little bit hopeless. But if you start small and close to home, it’s possible.

Speaking for myself, I tend to find that a good starting place for hope is in the practical realm. In my lowest moments, that might involve the simple act of getting out of bed, taking a shower, or feeding myself. If I’m feeling a little sturdier, it might involve making a list of things I need to do, tidying my workspace, or listening to something that makes me laugh. Sometimes it’s a matter of taking a deep breath and thinking, I’m still here.

Your writing practice can also give you opportunities to make hope happen. Regardless of whatever may have happened yesterday or whatever might happen tomorrow, do one thing today that keeps your new project alive.

Open up that Word document and glance through it to keep it in your mind.

Pick up your pen and start scribbling.

Find another resource or two that you can use.

Read something for your project.

Chat about your project with a friend or colleague.

Heck, set aside 5 minutes in your day to sit and think about your project and nothing but your project.

Do one thing, even if that thing feels like the absolute minimum (something I wrote about on Day 4 of a previous Writing Camp). And over time, as you get in the habit of doing one thing, you may start to notice you’ve begun to make hope a habit.

And if all else fails, there’s always this musical number from the immortal Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers! Because what is hope if not the act of picking yourself up, dusting yourself off, and starting all over again?

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To celebrate my birthday month, I’m offering my usual 2-for-1 deal: 2 people can enjoy 1 year of a paid Page by Page subscription for the price of 1 subscription!

If you’re a free subscriber who’d like access to everything in the PBP archive (plus all paid subscriber posts) for a year, or if you’re someone who’s been waiting for an even more affordable way to support my work, this is your chance!

To take advantage of this deal:

1. Find a buddy who’ll reimburse you for half the normal subscription cost for 1 year.

2. Sign up for a paid annual subscription.

3. Send me your buddy’s email (to mary [[at]] marycflannery.com) so you both get a paid annual subscription at 50% off for 1 year!

If you’re already a paid subscriber and want to take advantage of this deal and share the PBP magic with a friend: no problem. Just follow Steps 1 and 3 above!

If you’re really feeling generous, and you’d like access to everything on PBP and regular feedback on your own writing whenever you need it, you can become a Founding Member ($150).

VB,

M