Hope Dies Last

November 1 and 2 are important dates in Latin America. This is the time of year when most countries celebrate those who have departed. Mexico’s “Día de Muertos ” is without a doubt the most emblematic event of its kind as it brings together millions of people from all over the world in a colorful and cheerful celebration rich with symbolism. It began thousands of years ago with the Aztecs and other pre-Hispanic cultures who considered mourning the dead to be disrespectful. To them, death was a normal phase in the infinite loop of life thus, the deceased had to be kept alive in memory and spirit. In 2008, UNESCO added this festivity to the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, recognizing its transcendence.

It never ceases to amaze me how so many people from different religious, ethnic, and social backgrounds celebrate Día de Muertos in the same way. In particular, it’s the widespread ritual of building home altars, also known as “ofrendas ”, that I think is worth looking at in more detail. The boundary between the spirit realm and the real world is said to dissolve on this day. The souls of the deceased return to the living world for a limited while to feast, drink, dance, and enjoy music with their loved ones. In turn, living relatives place the deceased's favorite meals, drinks, and other offerings on altars built in their homes. Candles, Cempazuchitl (bright orange and yellow marigolds), incense, papel picado (thin sheets of colored paper with complex cut-out motifs), and images of the departed are used to decorate the ofrendas.

Most historians link such devotion to people’s gratitude, respect and love for those who have passed away. Others note that it is the celebration of life, and not death, that prompts families and friends to build ofrendas. I agree with all of them simply because gratitude and love are some of the reasons that motivate me every year to try my best with a small altar for my beloved ones. But I must admit that there is a more selfish motivation for me to keep this tradition...one that I might share with others. If you've ever lost a loved one, you'll understand how the prospect of one final chance to connect with them will elicit an emotion that transcends logic and IQ, a sensation that is far too strong to ignore. Of course, I'm referring to hope .

Let's take a look at how our bodies develop the emotion of hope to get a better understanding of this. Shane J. Lopez, Ph.D., writes in "Making Hope Happen " that neuroscientists have studied blood flow, oxygen consumption, and electrical activity in our brains to come to the conclusion that "we create our hopes from memories." The hippocampus, the brain structure that regulates motivation, emotion, and learning, is required for this. It's worth noting that visualizing the future has the same effect as remembering the past in that it activates the hippocampus. As a result, when we anticipate a new situation, we build a new memory, one of the future. After that, the amygdala will play a significant role in generating emotional reactions. Finally, the prefrontal cortex, the brain's youngest region, will use this information to help us tie ourselves to the future, in other words, to make us hopeful.

I suggest we seize every chance, and not only Día de Muertos, to put this machinery to work. Professor Jerome Groopman of Harvard Medical School demonstrates in "The Anatomy of Hope " that during the course of illness, belief and expectation, the two mental states associated with hope, have an impact on the nervous system, which sets off a chain reaction that increases the likelihood of improvement and recovery. This mechanism, he says, is at the heart of the well-known "placebo effect," which is triggered by a positive mindset. Furthermore, the American Psychological Association reports that those who have high levels of hope show lower death rates than those who have low levels of it. This is because hope, according to researchers, may motivate people to make better and healthier decisions. And, according to Harvard's "Human Flourishing Program ," people who have more optimism in their lives have less depression, anxiety, and are less likely to develop cancer.

There's also the significant impact that hope has on happiness. On an emotional level, feeling hopeful can help predispose our outlook for positive confirmation bias: we feel good and imagine the world is full of possibility, so we begin to unconsciously look for evidence of this goodness and possibility, according to Evergreen Counseling , a leading therapy center in Berkeley, California. On a spiritual level, it's likely that hope can help people connect to some sort of anchoring, spiritual force within their own construct, making them feel less isolated.

So, you're sure of the numerous advantages, but you're having trouble recalling memories or seeing a future that inspires hope in your brain? Don't be concerned. Here are three things you may do to bring hope into your life. To begin, Charles R. Snyder, PhD, in "The Psychology of Hope ," highlights that to develop hope, we need a goal, the will to go in that direction (willpower), and a road map to get there (waypower). Second, according to a study published in The Journal of Positive Psychology , writing about past instances in which what we wished for came true can increase our happiness and optimism for the future. And third, Dacher Keltner , PhD, a professor at U.C. Berkeley, points out that when we provide hope to others, areas of our brain and nervous system associated to dopamine and oxytocin circuits involved in sentiments of hope are truly engaged.

As I said, the idea that Día de Muertos might help me reunite with my long-lost loved ones has no scientific basis. Fact-checkers may even dismiss the notion as unreasonable. But I suppose, not everything in life can pass stringent measurement-based testing in order to feel true. Probably the most redeemable feature of this tradition is the hope that it brings along, not only to me but to many others too. And hope with its positive effects does indeed check the boxes of the scientific method. Let’s then use any chance to remember those that have departed. It might not only balance our lives here on Earth but could also be a way to reunite with our beloved ones in the afterlife.

Author: Esteban Polidura, CFA. October 30, 2021.