Finding hope ... and a new book review
It's a good time to look for a sense of hope in people who care... and in ancient Stoic principles. And: Beyond Stoicism was reviewed in the Wall Street Journal
Hope. How do we find this precious commodity, especially living in a time that’s challenging economically, politically, culturally, educationally? In other words, how do we keep going when times are tough?
I constantly go back to Seneca’s words that we are all patients in the same hospital, with no doctor to cure us. We are in search of remedies to treat ourselves and those all around us, in a world that feels unpredictable and often dangerous. So in that spirit, I’ll offer a few thoughts.
A sense of care
Once I stopped to think about it, my strategy for finding hope is simpler than I first expected. My hope has been sustained by the people in my life who care about becoming better human beings and about bringing human goodness to the world around them. My optimistic energy has been replenished by spending time with these people.
When I’m with these folks, I bask in our common humanity. I realize that we share a sense of care for other humans, very much in keeping with the cosmopolitan approach embedded in Stoicism. The act of caring for the whole world can feel overwhelming, but caring for our friends, families, and communities is a good place to start… and we can build out from there in the ancient Stoic Hierocles’ expanding circles of concern.
The first people on this list of hope-givers are members of my family. My kids are filled with the energy and endurance—and good humor—of awesome teenagers. They genuinely want to do something good in the world and for other people, and they use their brains and time to provide creative, scientific, and mathematical contributions to help or inform others. My mom (through her writing and advocacy work) and husband (through his engineering work and volunteering) do this as well.
My friends, too, inspire me—despite their devotion to work, kids, and endless chores, they do so many things to help others and to grow themselves through their creativity, teaching, writing, work, volunteering, and more.
Many of these activities could be (or already are being) limited by our current government. For example, lots of research efforts at scientific labs have been suddenly cancelled due to halts in funding. But my hope is that folks will find ways to keep going and will push to do even more things that are beneficial to other humans and to their own growth.
I also wanted to give a shoutout to the community from the course, The Philosopher’s Compass, that I just finished co-teaching with philosophical writer Brittany Polat, with the help of Lisa Yankov. We led a journey to finding purpose in this chaotic world. Our approach combined Stoicism with the Co-Active coaching model that I’ve learned in my coaching certification, which provided a helpful framework for discussion. I was amazed at how our students shared their thoughts, aspirations, and questions with each other and with us. It was a microcosm of the supportive, compassionate, and deeply ethical community that I want to live in!
How ancient Stoics found hope
What did the ancient Stoics find hopeful? I’ll name a few things that could still inspire us today. I invite you to share these with your kids, too, in age-appropriate ways:
Virtue: Stoics believed that virtue (wisdom, justice, courage, and temperance) was the only genuine good, and that it was always within our control to act with virtue. This gave them hope that a good life was always in reach, regardless of external circumstances (including the very harsh circumstances that some ancient Stoics lived through). This is powerful in any era.
Human rationality: Though it may seem in short supply today, the human ability to reason and understand the world was, for the ancient Stoics, a divine quality that separated humans from animals. Humans’ capacity to use our thinking brain to overcome knee-jerk impulses and to become aware of emotions gave Stoics hope in the potential of humans to do—and be—good. Can we still tap into this reason despite the obscuring clouds of misleading advertising, blatant misinformation, manipulation, etc.? I think activating our critical thinking skills is vital!
Cosmopolitanism: Also increasingly under attack in the wider culture, the Stoic belief in our shared common humanity provided hope for social harmony and ethical progress. Humans were seen as naturally rational and also social, and the social aspect of our nature meant all other people were akin to family, no matter how annoying or difficult they may be… see Marcus Aurelius’ Book 2 of Meditations: “Say to yourself in the early morning: I shall meet today inquisitive, ungrateful, violent, treacherous, envious, uncharitable men. All these things have come upon them through ignorance of real good and ill.” Still rings true today.
Impermanence: Though it may seem odd to view this as a source of hope, one could argue that “this too shall pass” is a form of freedom. All things, both awful and great, are temporary. This offered hope to ancient Stoics in difficult circumstances, as they recognized that no pain lasts forever. This one is a bit of a double-edged sword (since everything is transient), but still can provide some comfort that things will eventually change.
Universal reason and the cosmos: Ancient Stoics believed the cosmos was governed by a rational order. Everything happened as a result of a larger purpose, part of the universe's plan (the Logos). Even if we do not necessarily believe that today (and I personally don’t), we can take inspiration from his concept to see the bigger picture. I like to look at the broad sweep of history and realize that my problems are really quite small compared with those of my ancestors or people living hundreds or even thousands of years ago, to keep things in perspective. And I also practice the view from above, where I zoom out to see my life in the context of the entire planet or even the cosmos, and I can recognize that my concerns are not as huge as I might have thought.
I’d love to hear from readers if you find any of this brings a sense of hope or renewed energy to you?
Back to Beyond Stoicism
And one more note: Our book Beyond Stoicism was reviewed in last week’s Wall Street Journal. The reviewer, Julian Baggini, found inspiration in its pages (despite critiques). He wrote in the last lines:
…the book is a refreshing example of a too-rare form of self-help, in which the goal isn’t success or happiness but becoming a better human being.
I couldn’t agree more.
Yes! As a mom and student of Stoicism, this is very much what I seek and hope to find community in (philosophically). Moving from study to practice is an everyday conversation with myself and my children. Fostering virtue in oneself and those around us IS hope in action, and considering the 'climate' in the US, imperative. Thank you for this post.
Meredith, great post. Unfortunately human rationalism, cosmopolitanism and virtue are in very short supply. Especially virtue, which for the most part, shows little sign of rebirth. I speak not of the world. I speak of what I see in my community, in my neighborhood, on my street. Oh, how I dream that my neighbors would act with some semblance of virtuosity!