Week 1: Hope Isn’t a Feeling

Jun 25, 2025

This Week’s Big Idea

Hope is not about ignoring reality.
It’s about choosing which version of the future you’re going to live toward.

Included in today’s newsletter:

• Video: “You Don’t Have to Feel Hopeful to Have Hope”
• Essay for reflection: “Why Hope Still Matters”
• Journal Prompts and Worksheet
• Guided Audio Meditation
• Theme Song

Reclaiming Hope: Why It Still Matters

Hope is a complicated word.

It’s been overused, misused, and sometimes weaponized by people trying to sell us comfort or deny the reality of pain. For a lot of us, hope brings up mixed feelings— memories of being let down, of believing too hard, or of trying to stay positive when everything was falling apart.

So let’s start with this:
Hope isn’t about pretending.
It’s not blind optimism, or spiritual bypassing, or slapping on a smile when your heart’s breaking.

Real hope is honest.
It tells the truth about what hurts.
It names the ache.
And then—it chooses to believe something more is possible.

That’s a radical thing in this world.
To look at everything that’s wrong—with your life, with the planet, with your story—
and still say, “I’m not giving up.”

That kind of hope isn’t fluffy.
It’s forged.
Like steel.
Like breath after grief.
Like the first green shoot rising after a forest fire.

The Framework of Hope

In The Hope Project, we’re not chasing a feeling.
We’re learning a framework.
A way to approach life that gives us the clarity to see what matters,
and the courage to move toward it—even slowly, even shakily.

Hope asks us two questions:
• What do I believe is possible?
• How can I live like that future matters—starting today?

It’s not about certainty.
It’s about direction.
It’s about moving forward even when your hands are shaking, because something inside you still believes in beauty.
Still believes in healing.
Still believes you are worth the effort.

You Are Not Broken

Let’s be clear:
If you’ve stopped hoping for a while, that doesn’t make you weak.
It makes you human.

We live in a world that encourages distraction, disconnection, and cynicism—
because those things are easier than hope.
Hope requires heart.
And presence.
And courage.

But here’s the wild thing:
You can rebuild it.

Even now.
Even here.
You can choose to begin again—not because the future is guaranteed, but because you’re willing to step into it regardless of what might happen.

A New Story Starts Here

This week, as we begin, I want you to know:

You don’t need to be anywhere else.
You don’t need to have it all figured out.
You don’t need to “feel” hopeful.

You just need to stay in the room.
Breathe.
Write.
Ask yourself honest questions.
And leave just a little space—
for what might be waiting to grow.

Hope matters.
Because you matter.
And this project?
It’s not about becoming someone new.
It’s about remembering who you’ve always been.
The version of you who keeps showing up.
The one who believes—deep down—that light still breaks through.

We begin here.
Together.

Journal Prompts:

When you hear the word hope, what comes to mind? Be honest—good or bad.
Think about a time in your life when you kept going, even when things were hard. What helped you hold on?
What would it feel like to give yourself permission to believe in a better future—without having it all figured out?

Get a free three-page expanded journal worksheet here!