Jill Filipovic is a journalist based in New York and Nairobi and the author of the forthcoming book, "The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness." Follow her on Twitter . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

(CNN) Michelle Obama said something stunning this week: Discussing the election of Donald Trump, she told Oprah Winfrey, in a clip that aired Friday on CBS, "We are feeling what not having hope feels like."

Welcome to the club.

For many women across the United States, Mrs. Obama occupies a similar role to that of Ms. Winfrey: a widely admired, deeply trusted and well-liked figure who has broken barriers without breaking down the ways so many of us relate to her.

Obama is careful and polished, but her public persona is less meticulously measured than that of her husband, the President. She is the rare American figure who is both aspirational and relatable.

JUST WATCHED Michelle Obama: I don't feel hope right now Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Michelle Obama: I don't feel hope right now 01:47

So when she asks, "What else do you have if you don't have hope?" in a moment when so many Americans have expressed hopelessness at the prospect of a Donald Trump presidency -- worried sick about a President-elect who ran a campaign infused with embitterment, misogyny, and racism, who seems happy to disregard some of our nation's oldest democratic norms and who may have been helped along by Russian interference -- she's telling us that she's walking this scary path right along with us.

Perversely, hearing Mrs. Obama talk has made me the most hopeful I've felt since Election Day.

Here's why: As First Lady, she had to play according to conservative, conformist rules, and as the country's first African-American First Lady, she had to take extra care to maintain an image of sophistication and excellence.

Once her husband is out of the White House, she'll be significantly freer -- to speak her mind, pursue her own passions and advocate for the things she believes in.

Photos: Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program Photos: Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program – In 2010, first lady Michelle Obama started Let's Move!, an initiative to address childhood obesity and help all our kids grow up healthy. Here she participates in musical activities with students in an event at Orr Elementary School in Washington in 2013. Hide Caption 1 of 12 Photos: Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program MIchelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program – The theme for the fifth year anniversary of Let's Move! is: Celebrate, challenge, champion. The first lady joins in at the Healthy Kids Fair on the South Lawn of the White House in 2009. Hide Caption 2 of 12 Photos: Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program MIchelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program – Across America, cities, towns and counties are supporting healthy afters-school programs and youth sports leagues. Here kids attend a Let's Move! event at Woldenberg Park in New Orleans in 2010.

Hide Caption 3 of 12 Photos: Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program MIchelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program – Through the initiative, millions of kids are attending healthier day care centers, where fruits and vegetables have replaced cookies and juice. Michelle Obama speaks at a Let's Move! Walmart announcement at The Arc in Washington in 2010. Hide Caption 4 of 12 Photos: Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program MIchelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program – Nearly 9 million kids participate in the Let's Move! Active Schools program and get 60 minutes of physical activity a day. Nearly 5 million kids will be attending healthier after-school programs in the next five years. The first lady meets with students in New Hampshire Estates Elementary School in Silver Spring, Maryland, in 2010.

Hide Caption 5 of 12 Photos: Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program MIchelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program – The first lady speaks about Let's Move! at the Visitors Center in Red Rock Canyon, Nevada, in 2010. Hide Caption 6 of 12 Photos: Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program MIchelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program – Childhood obesity rates have finally stopped rising -- and obesity rates are actually falling among our youngest children, according to Let's Move! initiative. The first lady attends the White House Kitchen Garden harvest on the South Lawn in 2010. Hide Caption 7 of 12 Photos: Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program MIchelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program – While Let's Move! has made strides in helping kids become healthy, the statistics are still daunting. Here she attends a partnership event with Chicago Blackhawks and Washington Capitals players on the South Lawn of the White House in 2011. Hide Caption 8 of 12 Photos: Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program MIchelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program – First lady Michelle Obama and Ellen DeGeneres dance during a taping of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" marking the second anniversary of Let's Move! in Burbank, California, in 2012. Hide Caption 9 of 12 Photos: Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program MIchelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program – America still spends nearly $200 billion a year on obesity-related health care costs, and that figure will jump to nearly $350 billion a year by 2018, according to Let's Move! campaign. Michelle Obama visits the Fresh Grocer store in Philadelphia in 2010. Hide Caption 10 of 12 Photos: Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program MIchelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program – The first lady attends a chef's demonstration with third-grade students from Pocantico Hill School and John F. Kennedy Magnet School, before a luncheon at Blue Hill Farm in Pocantico Hills, New York, in 2010. Hide Caption 11 of 12 Photos: Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program MIchelle Obama's 'Let's Move!' program – First lady says she is committed to giving kids the healthy futures they deserve. Here she works with chefs and students in the White House Kitchen Garden on the South Lawn in 2010. Hide Caption 12 of 12

Michelle Obama has been clear she doesn't have electoral ambitions, but that doesn't necessarily mean she's going to retreat from the worlds of politics and advocacy. She is, after all, a brilliant and ambitious woman with years of notable work under her belt, from her years in private legal practice, to her work in the public sector, to running a nonprofit, to working in academia.

Her biography has naturally been overshadowed by the President's, but Michelle Obama's life has been one of hard work and substantial accomplishment, much of it in the service of making the world — certainly her community -- a better place.

What she'll do next is still a question mark. Perhaps it'll be something in the health universe, along the lines of her "Let's Move" program promoting child and adolescent health. And maybe now she'll have the ability to go bolder -- her ambitions to change the American food system were thwarted by corporate food interests that have immense influence in Congress. Even what she could say in public seemed inhibited by her husband's position.

When she's no longer the First Lady, perhaps we'll see her taking a louder and more forceful stand.

JUST WATCHED Michelle Obama on election: 'We are Americans first' Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Michelle Obama on election: 'We are Americans first' 01:26

Or maybe we'll see her embrace the important issues long neglected by prominent politicians. I would personally love to see her promote abortion rights, which have been deemed too controversial for full-throated advocacy from many middle-of-the road Democrats, or maternal health -- African American women, after all, continue to die during pregnancy or childbirth in astounding and shameful numbers, and their plight has been largely ignored by the political establishment.

Perhaps like Michelle Obama, I've spent the past month in what feels like a bottomless well of hopelessness. I know I'm not alone -- and that she just threw out a lifeline.