Simple Musings: September 8th, 11:11pm

Rejection Is Suggestion: Living Fully in the Spirit of Hopecore

There’s this thing we’re all taught to fear—rejection. It looms over us, a shadow we can’t quite shake like it's a final verdict on who we are. But what if rejection wasn’t the end of the road? What if, instead, it was a whisper, a subtle nudge saying, “This isn’t your path—try something else.” Rejection is a suggestion. It's not a no, but rather a gentle redirection, a push toward something more aligned with who you are meant to be.

I’ve been thinking a lot about that, and it feels like such a freeing way to live—to view every closed door as a signpost pointing somewhere better. Instead of crumbling under the weight of rejection, what if we used it as fuel? A prompt to explore new paths and new ways of being that are more authentic, and less about living for someone else’s approval. It’s that shift in mindset that nurtures this thing I like to call "hopecore."

Hopecore is about living with a deep-seated belief that hope, resilience, and self-acceptance are not just nice ideas—they’re essential. It’s realizing that we can take every rejection, every failure, every moment where we didn’t fit in, and transform it into something beautiful. It’s about reclaiming those moments and understanding they don’t define us, but they do inform us. They suggest where to go next, what to try next, and how to keep moving forward.

There’s something deeply aspirational about seeing rejection this way. It feels almost revolutionary to look at a door slamming shut in your face and smile because you know that door wasn’t for you. It’s liberating to stop feeling like you have to measure up to these arbitrary, often unattainable societal standards—the right clothes, the right crowd, the right way of being liked. It’s so exhausting, isn’t it? Trying to be “cool enough” or acceptable in a world that changes its definition of those things by the minute.

Hopecore is an invitation to let go of all that. To embrace the idea that we don’t have to live by someone else’s rules, that we don’t have to chase someone else’s version of success. It’s this dreamy, soft place where hope becomes more than just an abstract concept—it becomes the lens through which we see the world. And through that lens, rejection is no longer a punch to the gut. It’s a suggestion, a quiet encouragement that says, "Maybe there’s something better for you just around the corner."

What I love about this mindset is that it pairs so beautifully with human determination. There’s something so raw and real about our ability to keep pushing forward, even when the world throws obstacles in our way. There’s this beautiful, almost poetic resilience in human beings—the way we can rise, adapt, and evolve after each setback. It’s not always easy, and often we stumble, but we’re wired to keep going. That determination, combined with the belief that rejection is just a suggestion, feels like the ultimate superpower. It’s the essence of hopecore—the strength to move through life with hope as our guide, not fear.

Imagine living without the fear of not being liked. Imagine being free from the pressure to perform, to be cool enough, smart enough, successful enough. It sounds almost utopian, doesn’t it? But I think it’s possible. I think it’s what we’re all secretly craving—this unshackling from the societal pressures that tell us we need to be something other than what we are. Hopecore invites us to be ourselves, unapologetically. It’s about stripping away the noise and expectations and settling into the quiet truth of who we are.

When you let go of those unnecessary standards—the ones you didn’t even choose but somehow ended up carrying—it’s like you can finally breathe. You start to live for yourself, not for others. You begin to understand that the only approval you truly need is your own. It’s not about being liked, being cool, or fitting into anyone’s mold. It’s about embracing who you are, flaws and all, and living fully in that truth.

This journey toward self-acceptance is ongoing, always evolving. But every step you take toward living authentically feels like shedding a layer of fear, a layer of doubt. It’s a process, but it’s one that fills you with hope, even in the smallest doses. And those small doses? They’re powerful enough to change everything.

Hopecore is about trusting that even in your most uncertain moments, even when the world feels heavy and disheartening, there’s hope waiting to guide you. There’s something inherently hopeful about believing that every rejection is just a suggestion, that every setback is an opportunity to redirect your energy toward something better, something truer. It’s about having faith in the journey, even when it doesn’t make sense, and knowing that your worth isn’t dictated by anyone else’s approval.

And maybe that’s the real heart of it: living fully means living freely. Freely from the fear of not being enough, not being liked, not fitting in. Freely from the expectations that don’t serve us. Freely in the knowledge that who we are is already enough.

Rejection is a suggestion. Human determination keeps us moving forward. Hopecore—well, that’s the path we choose to walk, with hope lighting the way. And that path? It’s ours alone.