How Do You Stay Hopeful?

Dear Reader,

A few days ago, I was on the phone with a friend, discussing the current state of the world.

We fretted about fascism and worried about friends who had recently been laid off. We speculated about world affairs, climate change, and how smartphones might be rotting our brains and our children’s lives. We wondered about what could be done and where to begin to make things better.

“What do you think?” she asked. “Is all hope lost?”

“Never,” I said. “Hope is existential. It’s part of the fabric of reality.”

She chuckled. “At least I can always count on you for some optimism,” she said, and the conversation moved on.

But I wasn’t being optimistic, dear reader. I was repeating something I learned from the 20th-century German philosopher Ernst Bloch, who conducted perhaps the most extensive exploration of hope ever attempted.

According to Bloch, what we call “hope” is much more than an emotion: It’s an aspect of the world we inhabit, a reflection of the unrealized potential that’s latent in every moment we’re alive.

Hope isn’t just a feeling. It’s a function of our perpetual openness to a better future—and of the world’s perpetual openness to being made better.

Simply put: There is always hope. Not just in your mind; in the structure of reality. By seeing and seeking a better future, you can begin to make one.

It’s a thought worth considering closely—and writing about for yourself. So, that’s what I hope you’ll do today.

4 Hopeful Ideas from Ernst Bloch

Here are four key concepts from Bloch’s philosophy that can help us all reconceive (and, as necessary, reignite) hope.

1. The “Not-Yet”: Reality Is Unfinished

Bloch argued that the present is never a fixed state; it’s a dynamic “front” where the past meets an open future. He used the concept of the “Not-Yet” (Noch-Nicht) to describe this fundamental openness, a perpetually passing present packed with unrealized potential.

2. “Anticipatory Consciousness”: We Are Future-Oriented Beings

According to Bloch, humans are essentially “anticipatory beings,” constantly projecting ourselves forward, always (re)imagining what might be. Our forward-looking orientation isn’t optional or merely psychological: it’s fundamental to human existence. We can’t stop being oriented toward the future any more than we can stop existing in time.

Even when we feel hopeless, we conceive the world through anticipatory consciousness. Disappointment and despair happen because we measure what we see against unrealized possibilities.

3. “Utopian Impulses”: Even Pipe Dreams Reveal Deep Truths

Bloch found what he called “utopian impulses” in all aspects of human culture—in fairytales, music, architecture, religious imagery, and even daydreams about a better meal or a more comfortable home. Such impulses don’t represent escapist fantasies for Bloch. They reveal our “anticipatory consciousness” at work.

Bloch’s work encourages us make these half-conscious hopes explicit, distinguishing between abstract utopias (impossible fantasies) and concrete utopias (genuine possibilities latent in present circumstances).

4. “Educated Hope”: Beyond Mere Optimism

Bloch distinguished hope from simple optimism or wishful thinking. What he called “educated hope” is informed by knowledge of real possibilities and grounded in concrete circumstances. This kind of hope recognizes both what’s possible and what will have to be done to make things better. It’s realistic without being resigned, visionary without being naive.

Bottom Line

If the future were completely determined, hope and human agency would both be delusions. But because reality includes unrealized possibilities—because the future is objectively open—hope is woven into the fabric of life itself (in philosophical terms, it has an “ontological foundation.”)

We’re not just passive observers of a predetermined unfolding. We’re active participants in shaping what comes to be. Hope is the bridge between recognizing possibility and acting to realize it.

It’s also where writing often begins: We write because we can imagine something better and want to make it real.

Go ahead, try it out for yourself! Use the prompts below to get started.

3 Hopeful Prompts

Want to build your own existential capacity for hope? Grab a notebook and a pen, or the virtual equivalent, and respond to any of the following prompts.

1. Thanks for the Hope

Think about a time when something small—a gesture, a word, even just a coincidence—made you believe that things could get better. Now write a quick thank-you note to whoever (or whatever!) gave you hope.

Bonus points: Actually send it.

2. Anticipatory Shared Consciousness

Consider a community you care about: your family, neighborhood, friend group, team, or even a movement of people who share a common goal. Make a list of three to five hopes that everyone in your community shares. What’s the simplest step you can take today toward realizing one of those shared hopes? Why not take it?

3. Not So Utopian

Imagine a future where one of today’s most intractable problems has been solved. What role(s) did people like you and me have to play to make it happen? What hopes did we have to entertain to realize change? What can we do today to create those hopes if not that change?

I hope you have a good week ahead!

Best,
Steve

P.S. If you want to learn more about Bloch’s philosophy, check out this podcast.