For the last few weeks, this one scene from the Lord of the Rings movies keeps playing through my head.

Gandalf has gone down with the Balrog.

The remainder of the Fellowship of the Ring has run like crazy and escaped the orcs and other beasties swarming them out into the grass on the mountainside.

When they get there, the hobbits collapse.

Some of the party go around to try to get them up, when one of the party resists that action.

“Give them a rest, for pity’s sake!” Boromir says.

“The orcs will be swarming these hills by nightfall,” Aragorn shoots back.

In Which I Wish This Scene Wasn’t So D*mned Relevant

That’s it. That’s the scene.

And yes, it seems extremely relevant these days.

Because here’s the thing: yes, the world feels horrifying these days. The Balrog took a bunch of our hopes down with it.

And things are looking dark. The orcs are coming. We can already see them poking their heads out.

Very True—And Yet…

But here’s the thing.

Unlike the Lord of the Rings, the rest of this story we’re currently living through isn’t written yet.

We Must Be—Dare I Say—the Salt and Light?

We know enough to know things can get really bad. But we also know that if good people resist the worst, the unhealthy people and their horrific wishlists won’t be able to advance as far.

And we know that no matter how awful things turn out, the horror won’t be all there is.

Because we are here, and we will light whatever candles we have.

We are here, and we will keep fighting as much and as long as we can.

Why A Grim Kind of Hope Is Yet Important for Our Health and That of Others

And here’s the thing—while grieving is important as we are able, staving off hopelessness and cynicism are super important too—both for our health and that of others and that of the country and world.

Scholars on fascism agree on this. See Timothy Snyder’s excellent slim book On Tyranny—whose important advice states that we must not to obey in advance to give the unhealthy people power sooner than they ask for it. More people get hurt faster when that happens.

Wow Those–Er–“Orcs” Hate It When People Don’t Give In

See, authoritarians love it when people indirectly believe in their absolute power by giving in to cynicism and despair.

They hate it when people rise up to resist however they’re able. And they hate it when people help one another out and keep one another going however they’re able. They especially hate it when people focus on the fact that there are objectively more of us than there are of them, that we’re an unruly people historically, and that civil disobedience is part of the fabric of our history.

Also Key For Our Health, Given Neurobiology

But also, neurobiologists studying stress and trauma agree as well.

The Hurricane Study

See, there’s a landmark study in the stress and trauma field called the “hurricane study.” In this study, they studied emergency situations where ordinary people were either given the opportunity to help with an emergency situation or kept off to the side.

What they found is that when people were given the opportunity to help with an emergency situation, they were much less likely to suffer the long term effects of PTSD and other results of trauma.

The Negative Effects of Cynicism and Hopelessness on Our Health

Similarly, Pulitzer prize winning neurobiologist Elizabeth Blackburn and her colleague Elissa Eppel write about evidence-based ways to reduce the amount and length of time people face disease and early mortality from stress in their book The Telomere Effect.

Some of the strongest thinking patterns that connected to literal lack of health in people were pessimism and cynicism.

I Did Say All We Needed Was a Grim Hope…Not the Same as Toxic Positivity

Now, this isn’t to say that we have to pretend that Gandalf didn’t just go down with the Balrog. Nor does it mean that we have to pretend that the orcs aren’t coming to try to get us.

On the contrary, taking on pessimism and cynicism in our mindsets just means we remind ourselves and each other that yes, terrible things have happened, but the orcs have not yet gotten those of us who are here quite yet. We can resist. And we can take care of each other as we do what we can.

It matters, and matters tremendously, that things that we DO, however seemingly small, can still make a difference.

Are they likely to fix everything? Well, that didn’t even happen in Lord of the Rings. So probably not.

We Know There Will Be Awfulness

There’s likely to be a lot of nastiness ahead—that is true. Even while we try to prepare reasonably for some of the problems and perils ahead, let’s help remind each other that there are things we can do here and now to individually and collectively continue to resist the orcs, friends.

Sometimes it will feel like we’re doing a lot, sometimes not, but regardless of how it feels, let us not grow weary of doing whatever good we can. Let us work past our cynicism and hopelessness through doing what we can. Let us each rest when we need to, but please don’t quit.

Looking for—and Being—the Helpers

And let’s look for the helpers along the way—because people are already out there making a measurable difference. May we join them as and how we are able.

A Final Charge

Go team #AssertiveSpirituality! Let’s continue to do what we can where we are with what we’ve got to speak up against the toxic crap toward a healthier world for us all. We can do this thing.

Want to help keep this work going? It’s been 5 years of this project, and I finally have tip jars set up at Venmo and PayPal so you can help keep the lights on and such (THANK YOU for whatever you can do!). Here’s the info:

Venmo: @assertivespirituality

PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=Q2QWKELCNATBE

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