I was perusing a catalog with a friend of mine when we came across some kitchy wrought iron words that you put on your wall - words like "live, love, laugh," etc.. One of the words was "hope." Here is the conversation that ensued:F: "I hate that word; it's so depressing."
Me: "What word? Hope?"
F: "Yes! It's so fatalistic."
Me: "How so?"
F: "Well, you only use it when things are looking bad, ya know? You never use the word hope when things are good."
So, I started contemplating the hope conundrum and I began to understand. We don't say "I know you will get well soon" or "I am confident that I won't get food poisoning from that bad sushi I ate." We do use hope when things are, well, not so good. Even though it is used in expectancy of a positive outcome, do we really think things are going to come out all right?? Just because I say "I hope I win the lottery" every day doesn't mean that I have a chance in hell of winning it. Just because Brittney Spears says "I hope my idiotic behavior doesn't cause permanent emotional damage to my children" doesn't mean that they won't end up on some MTV reality show 20 years from now. And just because the title of the movie was "Hope Floats" doesn't mean that the movie didn't sink in the box office faster than the Titanic.
Hope - The new four-letter word.
(I hope I haven't offended anyone.)
3 comments:
It always sounded "Precious Moments" / lace bound Bible to me. :)
Great to hear your spunky insolence again. I miss you - and I KNOW you're doing well! :)
I'm pretty anti-hope myself. I don't like it.
But I like you! Did you get your yarn yet?
What's happening in Deb-land? Inquiring minds want to know. :)
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