“A dose of Hopium please, and hold the sarcasm”

This week I ran across a word that is used in the internet world and increasingly in mainstream journalism. The word is hopium. 

Here is Google search definition of the word, which seems as good as any:

Hopium

irrational optimism

Hopium is very similar to copium, in that it’s a meme word that shouldn’t necessarily be taken seriously. While copium is used in a situation where someone needs to ‘cope’ with something, hopium is a term used to mock ‘false hope’ or irrational optimism. Source: Google 

While initially getting the giggles at hearing this word, I started to think about it in the context that it had been written. Irrational Optimism. There is something both lovely and crazy about irrational optimism. So many things are achieved in the world because we don’t think they can be done. Is it optimism or incredible persistence that is responsible? Well usually optimism does not achieve much on its own, it usually must be followed up with action on behalf of the optimist(s) and then, when they start to make something happen that paves the way for what seemed untenable, their optimism is recognized as a gift, a charism, a skill, and not as some painful craziness handed down from above. 

Still, when others use the comments about hopium it is usually dealt with some sarcasm and inuendo that is not trying to put the writer/dispenser of hopium in a good light. It often focuses on the irrationality of the hope that lies within, hope that is further shrouded in optimism, to further hide any message of joy or hope that may be contained in the message. 

When we consider the phrase outside of the giggles, abuse or critique that was intended by the reader, there is something more there. At least for me. I might argue the definition of hope, at least from a spiritual perspective, is confidence that all will be well in the end. That God will deliver, despite the difficulties that are being encountered at the time. Julian of Norwich, the English mystic from the middle ages, said it with her key phrase. “All will be well. All manner of things will be well.” This confidence in God holds us tight when the signs around us may not let us observe the same story. We will be safe. It will work out in the end. I don’t just have trust, I have confidence in God. All will be well.

So hopium may have something to do with hope, in the theological sense after all. Just because someone does not understand the other person’s perspective, their desires for “all to be well”, their willingness to follow others up the hill, on a beach in Normandy, to care for the uncared, all tell us that they have been hoping, trusting, confidently that God will deliver. Even when the outcome seems irrational and impossible. Even when the optimism is not understood, because others cannot follow in the same path. 

And yet, the impossible happens, the irrational happens, the optimism happens. As hope provides a road of confidence worth traveling. A road worth exploring. 

So next time you are in the deli, order a hope-filled sandwich with optimistic mayo and hold the sarcasm. 

Reflection and photograph Copyright 2024 Michael J. Cunningham OFS