Unstoppable hope

A while ago a friend and I were having a conversation about something confusing and rather rude another person had said. He was trying to understand and rationalize where the other person was coming from. At one point I said I regretted bringing up the matter at all because the statement didn’t seem worth all the effort we, especially he, were expending on it. This is how the conversation went (I am the blue speech bubble)

I thought this was a peculiarly empowering way of dealing with things or people that aggravate or bewilder you or send you into a spiral of contemplating the seemingly hopeless tragedy of life. It’s also an alternative to the way of thinking that says “it could be worse” (why yes, it can, in dreadful ways you can’t even imagine) or “but look on the bright side” (what about when there really isn’t one?)

But a bucket or container shaped opposite to the  problem/loss/trauma/tragedy feels like a mental puzzle I can attempt. It’s creative. It’s generative. It doesn’t involve flight or denial or more strength or virtue than I’ve got. It starts with imagination. Something I can almost always do is imagine.

This conversation also reminded me of this quote:

If a person or situation can do you no good, then maybe the next step is to imagine a good.

I am grateful to my friend for planting this idea in my head and I will be thinking about it for a while and seeing where it takes me.