2021: A Renewed Sense of Hope
As of today, January 20th, 2021, Joseph Biden is the 46th President of the United States. More significant to me and I’m sure many women across the country is that Kamala Harris is the first ever female Vice President. It feels good just to say Madam Vice President out loud. A new President and the first ever female Vice President and getting through an extremely tumultuous year all symbolize change.
It goes without saying that 2020 was one of the hardest years in modern history. Recounting the events is unnecessary because they are all still fresh and raw in our collective minds. Although 2021 is off to a bumpy start, it's important for us to try to gain some of the perspective that we may have lost during the previous year.
2020 made many of us more cynical. It made us focus on all the doom and gloom. For good reason, at some points we didn’t know when the bad news would end or if it ever would, but we made it through to 2021. We need to focus on this, and all of the good things that are happening. Of course, we should not forget about all the tragedies that happened, especially at the hands of fellow humans, but we can move forward to build something better because of those struggles.
Progress for a better present and future are being made on a daily basis. Vaccines are being distributed in the United States and across the world. In the coming weeks, there is a great possibility that more vaccines will become available through Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca. No doubt, this will save lives.
During his Presidential confirmation speech earlier today, President Biden promised the American people that we would work for more justice for all, create a more equitable nation, and try to reverse the divide that has become larger and larger over the past few years. I desperately hope that this new President holds up his end of the promise, but we have to work diligently too to create this future.
Change mostly comes from the outside of Congress before the legislature is created reflecting these changes; not the other way around. Suffragettes held protests in order to gain the right to vote, Black Americans fought for decades in the civil rights movement before they were granted proper voting and housing rights, and we see many fighting for justice, and change today.
At the moment, we are combatting a lot as a nation and world. There are so many issues that need to be addressed, and, unfortunately, cannot receive our undivided attention. But, if we work together, we can fight to eliminate these issues, which many divide us.
How can we do this when we don’t know where to begin? It may feel like there are too many things happening so the idea of approaching any issue seems like a massive undertaking. I think the first step, as cheesy as it sounds, is realizing there is hope, or at least a potential for hope. Just realizing that there is a potential of creating a better world is a great start. Then we can move forward one step at a time, and if we focus on only that one next step and then the following step, progress seems a whole lot less unachievable. The universe will move forward with or without us so we might as well try to create a future that is equitable for us all.
In a Psychology Today Article titled “Where Does Hope Come From?” Dr. Shane J. Lopez examines how hope is created and where it originates. In his theory, he maintains that based on our varied experiences, we describe hope as coming from different places. He continues, “Most people see hope primarily as an uplifting feeling that makes brief visits to our lives. But many others consider it a gift of the mind that builds on information while putting emotions on the back burner.”* However, he concludes that despite varying beliefs on what hope is, hope always has the ability to grow and expand. So, despite the fact that we all feel the term “hope” in a subjective way, we all have it to some capacity.
Despite the fact that 2021 hasn’t had the start that we all wished for after the dumpster fire of 2020, it is a new year. Just like every new year, people feel a sense of wanting change to occur in their own lives and in our shared lives. We can use this momentum to build a brighter, equitable future.
After such a terrible year that made many of us even more cynical than we already were, one might be thinking that this proposal is too blindly optimistic. But, historically speaking, after experiencing intense adversity such as wars and civil unrest, progress has come out of these challenges. If we take action, then the same can occur out of the struggles and tragedies of 2020.
Like I continue to say, this will only happen if we put our differences aside and work together.
For the past few years, we have been focused on how we are different from one another in a hyper-intensified way. Our previous President even celebrated this. However, viewing the world in this way is barbaric. It brings us back to a simpler way of thinking. At the end of the day, thinking in this way is greatly flawed, because we are all just humans. We all feel in the same way and live out the human experience, which is hard enough. By leading a life with less judgement towards things that we can’t change about ourselves -- race, ethnic background, gender identity, sexual orientation -- gives everyone the ability to live a more full existence.
We need to try our hardest to reverse the division that we have created in any way possible. This is the only way for us to combat external issues that we all face currently such as climate change, poverty, world hunger, and inequity of all kinds.
I have hope that we can accomplish these things, and I hope you do too.
*Lopez, S. J., Ph.D. (2013, February 21). Where Does Your Hope Come From? Retrieved January 20, 2021, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/making-hope-happen/201302/where-does-your-hope-come
