Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit

Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities

I have owned this book for years. I bought it on a whim when I was placing an order online so that I could get free shipping. It’s been sitting on my shelf for a long time, but something has always deterred me from picking it up and reading it. Until now.

I finished another book that I was reading recently and finally committed to reading Hope in the Dark. For whatever reason I finally felt ready for it. Over the past few months I have been in a treatment program for adults with OCD. Just after reading the foreword, I knew that this is the exact right time for me to digest all of this information. It aligns so well with many of the topics I am learning in treatment, and had I read it earlier in my life I don’t think it would have resonated with me so deeply.

The author speaks about uncertainty, the need for hope in the face of great obstacles, as well as the common humanity that appears when faced with tragedy. The fires happening in LA right now are terrifying, heartbreaking, and so difficult to witness from halfway across the country. I can only imagine the pain that all of these people are feeling, and my heart goes out to them. This is just one example of the current events that have been on my mind recently.

I believe that divine timing has been a guiding force for my decisions over the last 6 months or so. Although it may be a little too woo-woo for most, I have found that relinquishing the control I fought so hard to maintain is the only thing that has truly set me free. Control is an illusion. This is a common phrase I hear in treatment. I think using your internal experiences to guide yourself towards a life that is satisfying is incredibly beneficial. However, for years of my life those internal experiences were not actually mine, but the incessant voices of my anxiety, obsessions, pessimism and fear.

I think every single generation goes through a phase of intense hardship. A notable event that shakes humanity to its core and forces us to question our role in the world. The author of Hope in the Dark, Rebecca Solnit, originally wrote this in 2003 during the height of the Bush administration. The copy I have is her third edition (published in 2015), and she has added a new foreword and afterword. It is shocking how relevant the same information she wrote over 20 years ago is to many events that have occurred throughout my lifetime.

It is so easy to consider all of this hardship, pain, suffering, conflict as the definition of our collective experience. I have heard many people my age say that they could never bring a child into the world with so much uncertainty when it comes to our future safety and wellbeing. While I am not one to ever shame people who don’t want to have children, I do think it is interesting that this is such a common sentiment amongst my generation. I understand the fear that comes with bringing a child into the world, and the desire for them to have a wonderful life. Whenever I hear this I have to return to my statement from earlier: every single generation goes through a phase of intense hardship. With that I must remind myself that if I feel called to become a mother someday, it is not this “unethical” or “irresponsible” decision that many make it out to be.

I find it incredibly interesting to reflect on recent global events and consider my role. This article is definitely preemptively written, as I have only read through the foreword and the first chapter, but I felt compelled to get my thoughts down. If I have any more thoughts once I finish the book I will be sure to document those as well.

I would like to finish this off by sharing some of my favorite quotes from the beginning of this book. I recommend that you take the time to read it. The world can be such a scary place, but as Suzanne Collin’s wrote in The Hunger Games: “Hope. It is the only thing stronger than fear.”

xvi “A victory is a milestone on the road, evidence that sometimes we win, and encouragement to keep going, not to stop. Or it should be.”

xvii “…in most disasters most people are calm, resourceful, altruistic, and creative.”

xviii (1/2) “…a disaster is a lot like a revolution when it comes to disruptions and improvisation, to new roles and an unnerving or exhilarating sense that now anything is possible.”

(2/2) “…hope is only a beginning; it’s not a substitute for action, only a basis for it.”

xx “I’ve seen enough change in my lifetime to know that despair is not only self-defeating, it is unrealistic.” -Susan Griffin

xxii “If there is one thing we can draw from where we are now and where we were then, the unimaginable is ordinary, that the way forward is almost never a straight line you can glance down but a convoluted path of surprises, gifts, and afflictions you prepare for by accepting your blind spots as well as your intuitions.”

Thank you.

Phoebe