Hope

We are united in our desire to do what's right, this makes us powerful, and this eliminates our fear.

Something was born of the revolution, something that makes the dark times brighter, something that makes us better people, something that raises us when we’re down. That something is hope. It is hope that I see around me that lifts people despite the harrowing news, despite the confusion.

It seems a little childish of me to hang on to something like hope. The word had lost its meaning in the recent dark ages that passed. It was a something to mock, something to ridicule, something out of a cheesy movie. It was a word much like 'love' defiled and stripped of meaning. In Egypt, one could have asked if you believed in 'hope' in the same manner as one would ask if you believed in 'love'. I am aware now as I write this of how silly it may sound to those who have not experienced a revolution within themselves, but I make the case for hope having experienced it ever so closely.

It is a feeling of value, that I matter, that my actions mean something and help someone. It is a feeling that despite everything I can be helped by someone. It is the belief that good can triumph if you fight hard enough. It is all of these childish fairy tales that I believed before. When hope was born, I became like a child once again, with the same faith I had in great notions without any of the doubt. But this hope is better than that of a child's, for it is one that understands reality and is not deterred by it. It is a hope that is not moved by danger or the dark reality. It is a world is seen from a different vantage point, even though it hasn't changed at all. This sort of hope is more sophisticated because it retains the optimism of a hopeful child and the wisdom of an old cynic.

Police treason left us with some of the darkest experiences the country had ever witnessed. The aim was to drive us back to despair, but it didn't work, it was too late, hope was born. With much pain this hope was born, with much sacrifice, with much death. These trying times would have discouraged Egyptians before their new found hope, but they bore it out, they welcomed the darkness served with vengeance from our ex enslavers. It was a price they accepted to pay for what's to come, the hope that was born.

There's something different about Egyptians. Those losing money may be upset but not troubled, those facing danger are worried but not feeling unsafe. The youth finally feel they're the future of the country. Some of have done great things for other countries but were deprived of that chance in Egypt.

In the past, it didn't matter what we did for the country, we knew that somewhere along the line it would hit a dead end at some corrupt official’s desk. We expected stupidity from our government and we got it.

People started to care because there was hope that their action or sacrifice will not be in vain. Hope was injected suddenly into the veins of Egyptian. It was as if someone who had died was resuscitated, opened his eyes, took a deep breath and jumped up as if he hadn't died at all.

I write this now even as things have not turned out as we Egyptians hoped for. We’re still dealing with the old regime with new faces. Very little has changed but the little that has is very important. The people have changed, and they now have a new found weapon called hope. I write this now even though I feel down continuously, worn down by all our attempts foiled by the corrupt who roam the country unquestioned. I see my friends feeling down too. The evil of those who govern Egypt is deeply rooted.

At times like these I remember that people can make a difference, and that as long as this hope is alive, we have something to lift us up in the face of events to come. At times like these I remind myself that people can cause things to change. I remind myself that we could foil the plans of a few corrupt men even though they have the guns and the power to command an arsenal of mercenaries. They may have the power to command, but we have the power to love one another.

I remind myself of how many more people are choosing to do what’s right, how many more people are willing to die for what’s right. I remind myself that what we do today makes a difference, that we have a chance to act based on our principles without necessarily expecting to fail. I remind myself of the valor and the sacrifice of young men and women who died. I remind myself of my fellow Egyptians who left the rest of the world in awe. All I have to do is visit Tahrir Republic or remind myself of it. I remind myself of truth. I remind myself of freedom. I remind myself of justice. But most of all I remind myself of hope, which makes all these things possible.