A DEBATE OVER HOPE

and the balance of optimism and despair

At the height of World War II's darkness, Albert Camus wrote, 'There is no love of life without despair of life.' The absurdity of the world served as the foundation of Camus' thoughts. Not absurdity as dismissal but as liberation. A liberation that leads to action. If we accept the world as unknowable and uncontrollable, we're able to release the fight of trying to know and control it, and free ourselves up to take real action in the world. The contradiction of surrender and action has motivated some of the finest thinkers in our history. I've spent some time this week reading through my favorite authors' thoughts on suffering, surrender, and hope. What emerged was a great debate: is hope necessary and beautiful, or is a willingness to release control into hopelessness the only way to move