I think of hope as the freedom to live our life–the life that is our life to live, the life that we are built to live, so that in living our life we bring to life the vitality that we are capable of experiencing by doing the things that are truly who we are that bring out the best we have to offer to the life we are living.

Without that kind of hope, we shrivel within, despair, take up the pathway of addiction and hopelessness, down, down, down with nothing to inspire us and no reason to go on. Which is the way of life for far too many people worldwide.

The way out of hopelessness is the way of making enough money to pay the right bills and keep us afloat while we write our poetry, sing our songs, paint our paintings to soothe our soul, and maybe make it to the “Big-enough Time” to maintain our enthusiasm for being who we are, doing what we love to do.

But for too many of us it is one job after another, just getting by, holding on as long as we can. How long can we manage without more going for us than that is the question hanging over too many lives.

And in that mix comes the question, “What can the Tao do in the service of hope to those who have very little in the way of hope? The essential question of the Tao on every step of the Way is “Here we are, now what?” Where, and how, do we go from here? What do we do about where we are here, now?” And the answers develop from our relationships with our nighttime dreams, and with what passes for us in the way of “looking out the window,” where we intentionally enter a self-induced trance state, maybe by playing the drums or the guitar, singing, writing, songs, walking in the natural world, etc. and paying attention to what occurs to us in the way of hope, comfort, consolation in those places. Opening ourselves to our own spirit/soul and the Tao within to see what might develop with our spiritual side to help dealing with the reality of the day-to-day.

My way to my Tao-side is writing on my blogs, reading things of interest to me, asking all of the questions that beg to be asked and saying all of the things that cry out to be said, and being attuned to the mindful side of being alive (The Jon Kabat Zinn yutube videos can help here). And seeking youtube help for other ways of helpfully passing the time and keeping hope aflame. And engaging Google-Chrome’s AI Gemini for his ideas and companionship along the way of The Way.