The Power of Hope in a Chaotic World

The past year has been one of the most challenging for me personally. While the rug of familiarity and security was pulled out from under me, I did not have the choice to fall down. I was still in so many roles where others turned to me for support: as a mother, a therapist, and a leader. I had to find a way to keep moving forward while I could hardly feel my own feet on the ground.

As someone who sometimes identifies as an unrelenting and compulsive optimist, I felt like my own core was shaken. I shamefully pulled back from much of the noise around me in order to keep my head above water and maintain integrity in the commitments I had made and to the people depending on me.

It was in that quieter, more pared-down space that I was able to slowly reconnect with the inner fire that brought me to all these roles to begin with: hope through the darkness.

As I’ve made more room to cultivate that hope, I’ve felt its power to both steady me and push me forward. It has become both an anchor and a propeller. From my own recent journey, and from the writings of Rebecca Solnit in Hope in the Dark, I feel inspired to share some reflections on what hope really means in chaotic times.

Solnit writes: “Hope locates itself in the premises that we don’t know what will happen and in the spaciousness of uncertainty is room to act... Hope is the belief that what we do matters, even if we don’t know how or when.” That perspective echoes what decades of research tell us: hope is not about rosy optimism. It’s about possibility, courage, creativity, and action.

Why Hope Matters

Psychologists describe hope not just as a feeling, but as a way of thinking that combines two things:

• Agency: the belief that we can influence our future, even in small ways.

• Pathways: the ability to see multiple routes toward a goal, and to adapt when obstacles get in the way.

  
  

Research has shown that people with higher hope tend to:

• Experience less anxiety and depression, even during long-term stress.

• Stay more flexible and persistent when life doesn’t go according to plan.

• Engage more actively in their communities, with hope fueling collective action.

• Strengthen relationships and resilience when hope is shared in groups.

Hope is not something you’re either born with or without. It’s a skill set that can be nurtured and strengthened.

Hope as a Spark for Action

Research shows that hope fuels action at every level, from large-scale civic engagement to personal acts of kindness. What matters is not how visible or dramatic the action is, but that it springs from the belief that our efforts matter.

In the face of devastation, loss, and the waves of change, hope can manifest in ways both big and small. It might mean:

• Choosing compassion when the news feels too heavy.

• Listening deeply to someone whose perspective challenges your own.

• Taking care of your circle—checking in on neighbors, friends, and community members.

• Protecting what matters to you by volunteering, mentoring, or simply modeling resilience for your children.

• Keeping your voice heard—speaking up for the causes and values you care for, and not letting hard-won progress quietly disappear.
  

Even in uncertain times, hope gives us permission to take the next step forward, however small, and to trust that each action adds up in ways we cannot yet see.