Maslow (1968b) writes elsewhere about the Biblical tale of Jonah being swallowed by the large fish (whale) and left vomited on the beach of the city in which he was supposed to reside. As Maslow notes, this is a story of someone seeking to escape his destiny. He resides in the limbo of the whale’s belly and is without his own intentional aspirations (his own agency). It takes the whale to locate Johan in the future where he is supposed to dwell. Similarly, we are given the opportunity to discover and locate ourselves in the place where we are intended by creating our own Aspirational Hope without having to be swallowed by a whale. We need no outside motivator or force (the whale) to be guided to our intended destination. No abuse, addiction or loss is required for us to arrive where we are intended.
Maslow (1964/1970, p. 38, 83) suggests that while Aspirational Hope is without an outside purpose, there are desirable outcomes that accompany this form of Hope (and negative outcomes that accompany a lack of Authentic Hope):
“[S]triving for something one lacks inevitably makes one feel that life has a meaning and that life is worthwhile. But when one lacks nothing and has nothing to strive for then . . . ? We are reminded . . . of the ‘neurosis of success.’ People can struggle on hopefully, and even happily, for false panaceas so long as these are not attained. Once attained, however, they are soon discovered to be false hopes. Collapse and hopelessness ensue and continue until new hopes become possible.”
Some might argue that hope is never without some outside source. There is always some challenge or opportunity that necessitates the creation of Hope. Without hope, there is no action to be taken. Without hope, there is only hopelessness. Even if this is initially the case with all forms of Hope, there is a type of Hope that eventually operates independent of any outside motive. In alignment with Gordon Allport, another luminary in the domain of humanistic psychology, Maslow (1964/1970, p. 49) writes about the Functional Autonomy that comes with autotelic activities:
“Knowledge has become independent of its origins, its motivations, its function. It has become familiar and therefore self-validating. It tends to persist in spite of being non-functional or even anti-functional, in spite of frustrating (rather than satisfying) the needs which first gave it life.”
Something similar could be said about Hope. It becomes “familiar” (perhaps related to Seligman’s learned optimism) and may even be “anti-functional (“that is nothing more than hope!” “you are just a dreamer”). Yet it remains in place. Furthermore, it tends to expand in scope. While Aspirational hope might initially be established in one domain – often either the domain of work or the domain of play—it will often expand to include all aspects of one’s life. As Maslow (1968a, p. 207) notes, a “higher, superordinate unity” might be engaged: “Work tends to be the same as play; vocation and avocation become the same things. When duty is pleasant and pleasure is fulfillment of duty, then they lose their separateness and oppositeness.”
I had the joy and privilege of directing a program many years ago, involving a group of faculty members and students from around the United States. We spent a month each summer for three years exploring radically different concepts regarding liberal arts education (Bergquist, 1982). The focus of one “College One” session was the interplay between work and play. Much as Maslow suggested, we found that work and play could be interwoven—creating something we called “plork.” It was in a state of Plork that we discovered ways in which to be playful about the work called “learning.” We also became intentional (learning-oriented) about the various playful activities in which we engaged during this month-long exploration.
