Post 26 – Hope, the Enemy of Art
Posted on | January 2, 2010 | 14 Comments
I hate the word “hope”.
I’m going to let that sentence stand there by itself for a moment. In fact, I’ll repeat it.
I hate the word “hope”.
How can I hate it? The word means looking for a brighter future, it is a vision of a greater life. It is the basis of a political philosophy that desires utopia. Pheh.
When you hope, you immediately give up your power, you immediately give over to the fates your responsibility to do anything more. I hope this will work. I hope I get inspired. I hope they don’t mess up the government. I hope I can keep my New Years resolutions. When most people use the word hope, they’ve already decided that whatever they hope for probably won’t happen. Once that decision is made, it probably won’t. “But I am not responsible. After all, I hoped, didn’t I? What more can I do?”
Plenty. There is plenty more you can do.
This is very insidious in art. Hope is the enemy of art. I used to tell my acting students, don’t hope. Do. Do the work so hope is unnecessary. Do your homework. Do your imagining work. Take control of the process by laying a firm foundation of lived in circumstances and there is no need for hope. I tell you, my fellow writers, the same thing.
When you hope in art, you are telling yourself that there is a possibility that it won’t happen. When you give yourself that possibility, you stop being creative. Don’t hope. If you need to do something, trust instead. Don’t hope your resolutions will work, trust that you created a new year filled with well imagined possibilities. Trust that your vote counts and make sure it’s heard, don’t hope they will get it right this time. Trust that you can create, that you’ve done the imaging work, that the work will move you, that the Muse will then whisper in your ear.
Give up hope. Then do something.
~Geoff Hoff
Co-author of the how-to guide On Writing a Short Story.
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January 2nd, 2010 @ 10:13 am
Bravo! Applause! I absolutely love this. This is something I have thought, spoken of and embraced but could never put it into words or relate it to the word “Hope”. Thank you! I have just eliminated the word from my vocabulary and replaced it with “I know” instead of “I hope”. Hats off to you Geoff…nice work!
Maggie´s last undefined ..(Enjoy 10 returned posts for Christmas)
January 2nd, 2010 @ 10:17 am
I hope I can give up hope!
Claus
Claus D Jensen´s last blog ..Joke Time
January 2nd, 2010 @ 10:30 am
I trust that you can!
Geoff´s last blog ..Wage War on Christmas – A Warped Holiday Story
January 2nd, 2010 @ 10:33 am
Maggie – sorry it took me a moment to approve your comment. Didn’t see it in the queue. As I say, I used to say this back when I taught acting, back during the Lincoln administration, but have been thinking about it a lot, lately.
Glad you like it.
Geoff´s last blog ..Wage War on Christmas – A Warped Holiday Story
January 2nd, 2010 @ 2:01 pm
This is one word I plan to keep in my vocabulary. The basis of hope is trust, desire, possibility and expectation.
Websters Third International Dictionary
ROMISE (d) something that is hoped for: an object of hope.
hope (v)
1. to desire with expectation 2.(archaic) to place confidence or trust.
hope (n)
1. TRUST, RELIANCE 2.(a) a desire accompanied by expectation of obtaining what is desired or belief it is obtainable. (b) one whom hopes are centered on. (c) a source of hopeful expectation
Hope,expectation, belief, desire, promise and trust are all future thinking.
Hope is just one stage. Doing is another stage. Knowing is still another. All have relevance in how we operate.
Sheila
Sheila Atwood´s last blog ..New Year Resolutions
January 2nd, 2010 @ 2:16 pm
Sheila,
Yes. And most people stop with hope. And that is the tragedy of the word. (I often exaggerate in order to make a point, by the way. Hope is, as someone on Twitter said, a perfectly honest word. I agree, but still discourage my students from using it for the reasons I stated.)
And thanks you for your comments! I love a discussion, and had… um… hoped… this would statr one!
Geoff
Geoff´s last blog ..Wage War on Christmas – A Warped Holiday Story
January 2nd, 2010 @ 6:33 pm
Interesting- there is a wishywashiness about the word, and as Sheila statea- from dictionary- desire with expectation, maybe we need to add action? Good discussion
Suzie Cheel´s last blog ..Freedom is…….
January 3rd, 2010 @ 1:02 am
You’re echoing a wonderful essay by Margaret Wheatley – From Hope to Hopelessness (http://www.livingearthgatherings.org/wheatley_hope.html) in which she discusses the Buddhist teaching that hopelessness is not the opposite of hope – fear is.
When you hope for a specific outcome, there is an underlying fear that it won’t come about. To be hopeless is to be liberated from attachment to specific outcomes, free to accept that your work may achieve no long-term change in the status quo – free to go on and try again from a new angle, drawing strength from relationships rather than expected outcomes.
January 3rd, 2010 @ 9:57 am
Phila, I like that. I’ll have to go read that essay (as soon as I catch up this morning, haven’t written today’s post, yet!)
I understand and agree with her use of “hopelessness” but I would be reticent to use it that way because it would take to much explanation each time.
Geoff´s last blog ..Wage War on Christmas – A Warped Holiday Story
January 3rd, 2010 @ 10:57 pm
This is good, thought provoking stuff, as usual Geoff.
I used to tell my sales people that “hope is not a plan”, and I think that’s what you’re eluding to here. I loved the post, because it draws attention to the inspired action that each of us need to take, and away from this feeling that so much of our “destiny” is out of our control.
I hope that made sense….(yes, I went there)
MS
Mike Shippey´s last blog ..You Better Believe It
January 4th, 2010 @ 8:55 am
Mike – I almost ended the post with that very sentence, but realized it would cheapen the post. I figured someone would put it in a comment, so I knew the joke would be represented! Thanks!
I had heard “hope is not a plan” before, but had never really thought about it. Yes, I think that is very close to what I’m saying.
January 4th, 2010 @ 9:31 am
You know what’s interesting about that little quip, is that initially I wasn’t trying to make a joke, it was just a habit to write “hope”. Then I thought, “hmmm…kinda funny…”
It makes the stuff you’re talking about in the post even more meaningful to me. We are almost programmed, or at least conditioned to “hope” for everything, without taking the full responsibility for it. Even something like having our words make sense to others.
You really have a great site here!
MS
January 4th, 2010 @ 9:52 am
Mike, thank you. Yes, since I’ve written this post I’m noticing how often I use the word. Sometimes I still allow it, but I do it consciously, now.
January 4th, 2010 @ 10:47 am
You hit the nail on the head. “Do it consciously.” Then it has power.
Sheila
Sheila Atwood´s last blog ..Internet Marketing Workshops and Seminars 2010