Thinking About Hope
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There are so many ways to think about hope, an emotion that plays a huge part throughout our lives. Theories of hope, hope as agency to accomplish things, how hope only exists when there is an unknown result, hope for a specific outcome versus general hopefulness, different types of hope (some helpful, some not). Hope for the future, versus hopefulness in the present. Mettle Health counselor Tom Grothe, NP and Mettle Health founder BJ Miller, MD lead an interactive discussion on thinking about hope as relates to serious illness, loss and end of life.
We discuss:
0:00 Introductions
3:44 Introducing the concept of hope, what it is and what it means to us, the theories of hope, and hope in relationship to activism and Christianity
5:30 How do we define hope? A desire for something good in the future - is it a feeling inside yourself? A state of being? To be hopeful, you need an uncertain outcome
9:45 What hope is NOT: denial, wishful thinking - but these emotions can still serve us
14:11 How time plays into hope, when hope is future focused - time becomes very important. The value of hope is to enrich the present, and give meaning to your life
17:08 Hoping while alive - our groundedness can be our healing
20:39 How does Hope show up in myths? And what do those myths try to teach us?
28:30 Theories of hope: what did multiple theorists think on hope?
32:13 How does hope show up in Christianity? Patience and trust in a higher power will work through you, how faith and hope are intertwined
38:00 Hope as activism: moving you to do something that will change the world
39:20 Existential thinking and hope - it is up to you to create the meaning in your life. And until you have meaning, you can’t create hope - you need something to believe in.
42:23 Hope and the elevating emotions - when we’re in dark places, we need to process that sadness, but we can also find meaning by processing your joy and hopes. Balance it so you live in a world with the positive and the painful
43:31Hoping in a dark world - hold your uncertainty, and act to move toward your future in hopefulness
45:20 How to handle people who exhibit excessively positive hope and see you as having “given up”, when in fact you are hoping for different things? Hope can hold the hard stuff
49:27 How to counter the false hope mindset to move to realistic hope? And are there people who need that false hope narrative?
53:17: How does hope evolve as relates to illness? From diagnosis, to treatment, to death - what is the dynamism of hope? Hope needs to be framed and contextualized
55:40 How are beauty and hope related? Does beauty foster hope? It’s possible to be hopeful, when you are moved by something
1:00:13 How to think about hope when living with dementia or caring for someone who is? How to find the beauty and hope through the disease process of dementia - there is still beauty in life. Sometimes hope is not comforting, it’s agitating, and so it becomes more of a struggle. what form of hope can be sustaining
01:06:41 Who fares better? patients who know an outcome? or patients who hope for an outcome? What is mature hope?
01:10:29 What is the difference between optimism vs. positivism?
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