389. The Hopelessness Spiral

When you’re feeling bogged down by bad news, it’s easy to think there’s nothing you can do about it. Sami Sage shares how she pulls herself out of the hopelessness spiral.

Sami Sage and Emily Amick are authors of the book Democracy In Retrograde: How to Make Changes Big and Small in Our Country and in Our Lives. They are our guest hosts for It’s Going To Be Okay this week.

Transcripts may not appear in their final version and are subject to change.

Sami Sage: This is Sami Sage back with another lesson inspired by Democracy in Retrograde, how to make changes big and small in our country and our lives, co authored by myself and my friend Emily Amick, who you heard from yesterday. Many of us are overwhelmed with feelings of political despair. This is something that we have named the hopelessness spiral, a downward cycle where feelings of powerlessness and disconnection from the political process feed into each other, making it increasingly difficult to take action.

The hopelessness spiral starts with a sense of frustration and disappointment in political outcomes. As your frustration grows, people begin to feel that their efforts are futile, leading to withdrawal from civic activities and from trying. This disengagement then amplifies our feelings of isolation and helplessness, creating a self perpetuating loop of inaction and despair.

It may seem counterintuitive, but the way out of the hopelessness spiral is actually to take action. Maybe you’ve heard before that action is the antidote to anxiety. And similarly, action in the political space is the antidote to despair. No matter how small, every action can restore a sense of control and optimism.

So engaging in civic activities channels frustrations into constructive efforts, leading to a tangible impact from your contributions and fostering a sense of accomplishment and hope. Not only that, but you might actually get something done in the process.  Activist and educator Mariam Kaba, whose work focuses on, among other things, violence in the prison industrial complex, has popularized her teaching that hope is a discipline.

It is not a fuzzy feeling that a happy ending is inevitably on its way, neither is it an emotion, nor a sense of optimism.  Hope is a daily practice that relies upon our actions and cultivating it actively.  It is important to remember that hope and optimism are not the same thing. You don’t have to be optimistic to be hopeful.

But to be hopeful, you have to find glimmers of positivity and potential. It is the practice of finding comfort and strength in your community, and orienting your thoughts and observations towards that. It is the act of taking pride in even your smallest achievements. It is feeling joy even when there are terrible things happening, and celebrating victories even when there is so much more that you wish to improve.

And finally, hope is best cultivated when you share it in community with people whom you share values. And that is why finding your people is so important towards building and maintaining hope. That’s who you turn to when you want to feel that it’s going to be okay.