The Theme of Hope In OUAT

While this show is so popular for its reinvention of classic fairy tales, talented actors, and well-written plots, the main idea behind Once Upon a Time is the theme of hope.
The writers, Eddy Kitsis and Adam Horowitz say that the show is about hope, while their first show, Lost, was about redemption. I am sure that many others like myself have seen the redemption theme appearing in OUAT as well. Still, it is clear that the main message really is about having hope, faith, and belief, no matter the circumstances.
The biggest example of this is with Snow White and Prince Charming. In all of their hard times, and whenever they are separated, they always have hope that they will find each other again. At the start of the show, they have no memories of each other, yet they have a special bond. Mary Margaret (Snow) takes the time to care for him at the hospital since no one knows who his family is, and it is when she reads their stories to him that he awakens. She had always hoped that he would get better and wake up...and that is exactly what he did.
Then the other main plot at the start that centres around this theme is between Henry and Emma. Henry hopes to find his real mom, Emma, for a number of reasons. One is simply to know her, another is to get away from his "evil" adopted mom. However, the greatest reason for this is that he knows that the story book is more than fantasy, and he hopes that his mother can be the saviour and break the curse.
What I love so much about these two examples is that right away the writers use this to convey the message that hope is strong enough to make anything happen. If you truly believe in something, it will come true. (Of course now I am singing, "There can be miracles when you believe, though hope is frail, it's hard to kill." At least it is appropriate for the topic at hand.) Over and over again we see this same theme; season after season. Right from season 1 to the end of season 3, Emma is trying to feel like she belongs; she wants a family and a home. She has long since begun to lose hope in such a thing, and yet she realizes that she has had it all along.
Season 3 has some very vivid examples as well. First is Emma - and all of the characters, really - keeping hope that they will be able to rescue Henry from Peter Pan. No matter what darkness or obstacles they face, she has the hope that her parents had: they will find each other again. Then, when that mission is successful and we enter the second half of the season, Emma's hope is now to return her parent's memories and defeat the Wicked Witch in order to protect them and her soon-expected brother. Even in the last episode, when she and Hook go back in time, she is hoping to make things right and to be able to return to her family.
There are still so many more examples that I could outline including Belle's hope that Rumplestiltskin can be good, Regina's hope that Henry will see her as his mother, and the hope that Regina can be a good person. There is hope for love, acceptance and belonging, reunion with loved ones,  things to get better,  redemption and forgiveness, and happiness (or in the fairy tale world, happily ever after). No matter the circumstances, the characters epitomise the hope against hope scenario, and in the end love and hope are the strongest forms of magic there could ever be.