Finding Hope in Dystopian Times

By Jordan Mayfield, LSCSW, LCSW, LCAC

I am talking with different clients for hours a day about how powerless and hopeless they feel with the state of the world, particularly since January 20, 2025. The fear is palpable. The feeling of powerlessness is often paralyzing. The plan of the Trump administration appears to be succeeding: to silence, to evoke fear, and to promote submission in those who disagree. We feel like there is very little, if anything we can do to influence change. We are stuck. We are retreating. And there are days I succumb to this as well. How do we focus on daily life when the future feels so uncertain and planes are literally falling out of the sky? How do we focus on practicing self-care or setting boundaries if we are afraid there may not be a tomorrow?

Both the simple and complicated answer is hope. We must find and cultivate hope to oppose life’s dangers. This has been true before 2025, in countless times in history, and it remains true today. There are many times in American history that the populace has been so scared that they believed both the nation, and their own lives and well-beings were at stake. And in many of these examples, people did lose their lives, however somehow the country persisted, flaws and all. Some of these times include April 14, 1865, the day President Lincoln was assassinated; October 29, 1929, the day the stock market crashed; December 7, 1941, the day Pearl Harbor was attacked; October 22, 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis; and the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. During each of these examples, and many others, Americans believed that life as they knew it was over. And in some ways, maybe it was. But it did not necessarily mean life itself was over. Nor did it mean that we could not create an even better version of reality with new insights gained. Current times may feel very bleak. And those who lived through the above events felt similarly. 

And this in no way is to discount the horrendous things this current administration is doing and trying to do. However, we do have choices. And if you are in a position of privilege, I implore you to use them. This does not mean sit and watch TikTok or Instagram and become increasingly worried or furious. It means get up and DO something. You may not be able to stop executive orders. But you can make a difference to someone in your community or in your life. And when we see other people doing good. We feel good. We feel a hope in humanity which allows us to continue forward, to be a beacon of hope lighting the path for others.

Hope is scientifically proven to increase mood, increase health, and increase life- span. Just the idea that something good exists and is around the corner can often be the difference between life and death. Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor, wrote about hope and meaning throughout his career. His most famous book, Man’s Search for Meaning, tells the story of how he survived the Holocaust “by finding personal meaning in the experience which gave him the will to live through it.” He went on to say, “human freedom is not a freedom from but freedom to” (Frankl, 1988). What this means is that to be free does not mean freedom from suffering, it means freedom to do something about it. What we need now more than ever is to have hope and be the good. Hope is contagious, and hope is powerful. Hope turns our powerlessness into action.

Consider what your strengths are and what you can offer the people in your life. Use those skills to do something positive. This snowball effect will build hope around you and in your community, encouraging others to act too. For example, if you like to bake consider baking goodies and providing them to your local LGBTQ+ resource centers. If you drive for Uber, consider giving free rides to people needing access to resources or to obtain documentation such as a passport. Whatever skill or talent you have to offer, use it to provide a sense of hope and faith in humanity to others.  This movement of hope can dismantle hate and greed and build something even greater than it was before. There are millions of people feeling exactly like you do now. If each one of us did something to create a sense of hope and remind each other there is still much more goodness in the world than evil, we would be unstoppable.