Every morning brings with it new hopes. We all hope for different things but our paths cross across one. We all hope to find a better place. We have different visions of that place but we never let go of it. So many lives are unlived in the hope of finding a better place someday. This same hope has taken lives too, some before they could even begin. Do they find it or do they keep giving up their lives? A plethora of platforms advocate for this better place, building hope to such an extent that it breaks another. Does that make it false hope? Is it wrong and stupid to hope for a better place? Or is it wrong to hope that it will find you someday? Is it wrong to take steps with that hope in mind? Will those steps just lead to collective demise? But if you truly never find a definite better place, then why don’t these examples of false hope serve as precedents? Why does that hope keep shining within us? Should we take it away before it takes us away? Why this chatter about a better place? Why can the present never be good enough to stop looking? Is it because, perhaps, we became so acquainted with the future we formulated in our mind that we need to fall off of that high horse before learning to live a meaningful life? We’re stuck to our path, don’t want to stray, and become so comfortable that we need a shake to make that go away. To give us time to realise that there’s only so much we can control at the end of the day.
Is hope then good or bad? Or does the nature of hope also depend on the kind of hope? Getting caught up in your hope is being in a limbo. This hope of a better place is a lifelong limbo. You’re caught in the middle and you can’t seem to reach either side. You don’t want to give it up whilst also knowing that if you do nothing except holding on to it, you might as well have given it up. We can’t go a day without hope but is hope enough? Can you build your life, yourself on it? I don’t think so. As for a better place, you will spend your whole life searching for it. When you’ve found it, you’ll look for something even better. It’s just human nature. Going for that bigger picture, it’s natural to miss out on the small, miniscule, perfect things. It’s within them, the small moments in life where you feel safe and happy. Hot chocolate and s’mores around the bonfire, a laugh with your friends and family, according to me that’s your better place. We all come with one and we all are one. Does this mean that you’re out of the limbo? No, not really. Even when you realise or recognise your better place, you look for more like it. Human nature.
You’ll always be caught up in this lifelong limbo but you don’t have to stop living and just keep hoping and looking for an answer because you know they say you’re never more alive than when you’re almost dead. You know what that point in life brings with it? Taking inspiration from every coming of age movie ever and also a little from what I think, it means finally letting go. It means allowing yourself to get caught up in every possible limbo you can think of and still feel alive. Still live. It allows you to recognise that each passing moment brings new opportunities to navigate life’s limbo and discover the richness hidden within the journey. It nudges you to raise a toast to embracing the unknown and finding the unexpected beauty in every twist and turn. Finally, I don’t think a hope for a better place is a false one. Sitting around and just waiting for it to come true makes it false hope. Just looking without stopping makes it false hope. Trying to fight this limbo makes it false hope. Living in it and embracing it will just lead to you finding parts of what you’re hoping for. Just like experiences make you if you don’t let them break you, this limbo too will save you but only if you allow it too.