How do you, personally, add hope to the world?

January 20, 2025 9:31 AM

I want to focus on the things that I can do to make our world a tiny bit better. So with the idea of gathering inspiration from everyone: what do you do?

I see this as a sister question to this one. But whereas those responses often are focused on the individual (also critical!), this one is focused on personal actions to benefit society.

posted by sugarbomb to Society & Culture (20 answers total)

Make art and/or music. Share it. Support other people to make art and/or music.

Renormalising non-instrumental creative activity, (i.e. things done for their own sake, rather than as a means to an end) as an everyday expression of personal autonomy, is a more political act than it may at first seem.
posted by Chairboy at 9:52 AM on January 20 [14 favorites]

I keep the books for my union local. We don't have much power thanks to Scott Walker, but it's important that we exist.

I am gradually replanting my yard with locally-native plants and flowers.

I teach, and I research, and I explicitly treat both as ways to improve my surroundings.

I donate often, and I support mutual-aid initiatives.
posted by humbug at 10:17 AM on January 20 [8 favorites]

I pick up trash in public. It’s kind of embarrassing sometimes; my ego quails, I worry people are laughing at me, I feel small. But then there is less trash. And I do it because I noticed someone doing it in my old neighborhood years ago, so perhaps someone sees me and does the same.

I mean yes I also donate and I volunteer and I make art and I am active politically. But the trash thing feels concrete and immediate and personal to my actual block, my actual neighbors.
posted by minervous at 10:30 AM on January 20 [24 favorites]

I take my anxiety and worries and knit for charities, especially in winter time more people need warm things than have them. I make things I’d wear myself, in high quality yarns so that the people know it’s made with love.

I take time to mentor those who don’t look like me, and give them opportunities that would be harder to come otherwise. I used to tutor middle school kids, but no longer have the regular work hours to do so.

I also donate $ but strategically, taking advantage of initiatives like giving Tuesday when corporations match contributions. Otherwise I pick a monthly budget and split it across 4-5 organizations and artists via patreon where regular small contributions really help with the day to day.

But also I pick my battles, I can’t save everyone everywhere, and I’m worse off if I try to care about everyone. I can however make a difference around me, so I try to focus locally, on things I care about and can influence.

It’s also dumb, but when I’m in a messy public bathroom I make a point of leaving it better than I found it. It’s probably futile, but hopefully helps someone else. (I’m talking wiping down a counter, picking up discarded paper towels, not like cleaning up biohazards)
posted by larthegreat at 10:31 AM on January 20 [12 favorites]

Spending time with children, and treating them as full people with dignity and autonomy, helps. Kids want the world to be better, and they are so desperate to have anyone take them and their ideas seriously.
posted by potrzebie at 10:40 AM on January 20 [13 favorites]

I'm focusing on land restoration and stewardship to add some hope to the world. I collected a bunch of native seeds in the fall and am working on establishing them on my land and surrounding areas. I'm also working on remove invasive species on my property and then outwards from there in the areas immediately adjacent to me (park, etc.). When the world is going to shit, helps to go out and work on removing the buckthorn that is everywhere on my property.
posted by snowysoul at 10:41 AM on January 20 [8 favorites]

Say please and thank you every time it's even sort-of appropriate.
(This includes bus drivers, retail and fast food workers, etc.)
Hold doors. Let other people go first. Take turns. Your time isn't more important.
(Even the homeless person or someone who was rude or cut you off.)
Wave to thank people for stopping at the crosswalk when you cross.
Acknowledge when someone extends you a not-so-common-courtesy.
EVERYWHERE.

And for goodness' sake, SMILE more often. Not because some guy told women they should do it - the truth is, EVERY-FREAKING-BODY ought to be doing it a heck of a lot more often. It's good for you AND the world at large.
So take the chip off your shoulder, stuff your over-reactions, and just plain BE NICE and BE KIND.

We're gonna need every bit of it we can get, I think.
posted by stormyteal at 11:06 AM on January 20 [14 favorites]

This feels a little like bragging. I hope it's not read as such, but rather as "These are things I do explicitly for other people."

I make teddy bears for Dolls of Hope. They send bears around the world to people (mostly kids) who need a bear to hug - refugee camps, hospitals, hospice, court. They make me happy to make them, and I hope they make the recipients happy to receive them. My favorite part is that I take individual "school portraits" and put them on all the couch as a "class picture" before I send a group of bears off on their next adventures.

I also bake for the residents and nurses at Mr. Meat's hospital. Because damn, they work hard and don't always get thanked. Who wouldn't want a brownie cookie with peppermint dust and white chocolate chips on the coldest day of the season? (Yes, that's what's cooling on my counter right now.)
posted by Ms Vegetable at 11:20 AM on January 20 [10 favorites]

Not enough...

I try to meet all the dogs. (Even just waving at them when I drive by them)
I try to help people having troubles.
I donate a lot.
I am midwest polite, so, holding doors is a yes.

But on this day, hope feels in short supply...
posted by Windopaene at 12:03 PM on January 20 [4 favorites]

Keep a list of everything people you care about recommend that you read, watch, do, or try. Then, experience the things. If they made an impression on you, FOLLOW UP with the people. Thank them and tell them what it meant to you. If it's a thing that can be experienced together, use this as a point of connection with them moving forward. People LOVE to know how they influenced you in positive ways!
posted by oxisos at 12:21 PM on January 20 [7 favorites]

I try to help, or at least be kind to, people who are experiencing harder times than myself. Sometimes that's just noticing that the person behind me only has a few items in the grocery store line or has small, screaming children that want to go home more urgently than I do, and letting them get in front of me. Sometimes that's cleaning out my extra winter gear to give to the guy on the corner asking for spare change the next time I see him while I'm walking to work. I think we all need reminders that there are many good humans around us if we want to maintain hope. The little day-to-day things feel more important than ever right now.
posted by glorybe at 1:01 PM on January 20 [9 favorites]

I don't do this because it adds hope to the world, but I think sometimes it's a side-benefit. I always bring my own reusable shopping bags. Now here in Chicago, you get charged for plastic bags at most places by law, so there is zero novelty to someone bringing their own bag, it's totally boring and normal and nobody cares. But I swear every time I travel around the midwest, I always get positive comments from the cashiers who are impressed/appreciative that I brought a bag with me. It's kind of wild.
posted by gueneverey at 2:25 PM on January 20 [1 favorite]

I grow and plant native species and share splits and seeds with as many people as possible. This helps feed all the struggling birds and butterflies, helps clean our air and water, and beautifies our neighborhoods.
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:27 PM on January 20 [5 favorites]

I write letters to elderly people. Their families tell me it is a light in their day, which is really cool.

I write to friends as well, some of them just randomly, so they also get a non-bill in their mailbox. Sometimes it is just a funny postcard I found. It lets people know someone is thinking about them and hopefully make their day a small amount better.
posted by ugf at 1:59 AM on January 21 [2 favorites]

I work for a nonprofit that has a vision of the world that I endorse wholeheartedly. I came to this organization in 2008, after the financial collapse made me feel completely and utterly repulsed by the baseline of working in the biomedical sciences for private industry and publicly-funded massive research institutions. I took the most massive pay cut of my entire life, but I'm still here all these years later. Spiritually, psychologically, it was without a doubt the most hope-instilling step I've ever taken. I know this kind of change is possible, sustainable, and is something that is always on my mind (in case other opportunities come to my attention that offer a greater hope quotient).
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 4:19 AM on January 21 [3 favorites]

a lot of the things mentioned are things i also do (yay, people!) one other thing i do is clear pathways for water to storm drains: this way there are fewer puddles after rainstorms
posted by HearHere at 7:02 AM on January 21 [2 favorites]

I volunteer and do taxes for free. The Taxaide program and VITA/TCE programs provide free tax preparation to many groups, including seniors and people with lower incomes. My program doesn't even have an upper income limit, but we do have a limited scope of forms we can file. It takes a lot of time, honestly, but this directly helps people deal with bureaucracy and saves them money. I read about the high time cost of being poor and the for-profit tax industry lobbying to complicate filing for regular people and I get angry. I started doing this right after the 2016 election, and I feel it has helped my sanity as well as those people who are using the program.
posted by soelo at 7:27 AM on January 21 [5 favorites]

I take pictures of the natural (and sometimes, manmade) beauty around me and post them on IG. I too, pick up trash sometimes in public, and yes, it is embarrassing, but hey, it looks better. This is about as low-level as you would imagine, but because I live in a place where it matters, I keep the street curb and drain in front of our house clear of the endless leaves and branches that clog them both, so that we don't have rainwater backing up during our rainy season here.
posted by Lynsey at 8:38 AM on January 21 [4 favorites]

I volunteer with a youth group. I spend a lot of time helping these kids understand how to be good people, good citizens, good neighbors, and the importance of giving their time to make other's lives better. It helps them and it ensures that I have many reasons to check my own behavior and attitudes because I need to set a good example. It puts me in contact with like-minded people, who also donate their time to these kids.

It's also a hell of a lot of fun, because the kids are amazing people. It gives me hope.
posted by caution live frogs at 2:36 PM on January 21 [3 favorites]

I donate platelets. I imagine them going to hospitals and doing a little good.
posted by whitetigereyes at 4:28 AM on January 22 [1 favorite]