a couple of grandsons and i
drove to the highest point in the city
snuck onto a golf course
at dusk
on a quest to see the aurora
under a crescent moon
star- sprinkled sky
we waited,
and waited,
and waited
and waited
my photo-wise grandie
set up a long exposure shot
his camera captured the beauty
better than our eyes could
how lucky and lovely
and
we did not get arrested for trespassing.
—
i’ve had a feathered visitor
a robin
courting me for the last two days
wonder what he wants to tell me?
will he return today?
hope that i’m home if he calls.
—
* robin symbolism means different things in different cultures and the message robin brings has different meanings at different times. A robin brings hope, renewal, and rebirth. Robin symbolizes new beginnings, new projects, and a sign of good things to come. – bring it.
—
hope tree, karin zeller
———
buddhist philosopher daisaku ikeda wrote this insightful look at the nature of happiness in his essay collection, “Hope Is a Decision.” ikeda spent 50 years writing the essays in the book. they all relate in some form to the nature of hope, and how we can take it upon ourselves to maintain it, even during tumultuous times. consider it a self-fulfilling prophecy: if you choose to be hopeful, you will be. just like if you choose to try and make others happy, it will increase your own happiness. and, as ikeda also notes in his essay, those choices will “illuminate our final years with dignity.”
WELCOME NOVEMBER…
There is something about November that says ‘keep going’.
We are not quite through the year, yet the finish-line looms.
We are plunged into darkness by Mother Nature.
We are faced with the ‘season of joy’,
and yet many of us wonder where we will find it.
And I think November is a great time to take a little peek behind you,
and see just how much you’ve done.
To take stock of your achievements, your endurance,
your survival.
To rest, reinforce, before the festivities envelope us all.
Before beautiful new beginnings.
And most importantly, November is a time to seek out light.
As the natural order darkens, we must find it ourselves.
We must do whatever we can to brighten our day,
our home, the world.
Seek out light wherever you can my friends,
and pay no heed to those who condemn your sparkle.
You are much-needed.
Keep showing up, in that special way only you can do.
And show up for yourself too
(which can sometimes mean not showing up at all).
This year has been hard.
Again.
But beautiful.
Again.
As is the way of life.
As is the way of life.
-Donna Ashworth
—
art credit: arthur rackham, british children’s literature illustrator, fall fairies from peter pan, 1906
“despite knowing they won’t be here for long, they still choose to live their brightest lives – sunflowers.”
-rupi kaur
(united airlines 1st class – 747 flight in the 70s)
—
after booking an upcoming flight
i may have a few misplaced hopes and expectations
that this will be my experience in the air
—
“let your dreams outgrow the shoes of your expectations.”
-ryunosuke satoro
art credit: the hope tree, by ashvin harrison
—
she looked older, tired, worn down, but trying
dark eyeliner, hair an unnatural black, a gold barrette
standing at the register
waiting as i approached
buying paper for an art project
noticing colors and prints on the papers
she pointed at them, saying:
“if you mix this blue with this flowered print, it looks exactly like the inside of the locket that i had when i was a little girl. it was shaped like a heart, my mother gave it to me, it had both of our pictures in it. is was really something. it didn’t make it through the fire though. i think someone came and took it after that happened. they didn’t know how important it was. i’ve had my dreams squashed before, but i still have hope.”
she shared all of that with me, a random stranger, in a 2 minute encounter. something about her was achingly sad, yet i also felt admiration for her refusal to surrender to a life that may have never been easy, still holding out hope for a better day, yet to come. amazing person.
—
“hope is the feeling we have that the feeling we have is not permanent.”
-mignon mclaughlin
“let’s just have a nice coffee and maybe a little breakfast”
well….
—
“hope makes a good breakfast. eat plenty of it.”
-ian fleming
I signed his copy of ‘The Tale of Despereaux’ and he said, “My teacher said fifth grade is the year of asking questions.”
“Really?” I said.
“Yeah,” he said. He took out a notebook. “Every day we’re supposed to ask someone different a good question and listen really good and then write down the answer when they’re done talking.”
“Oh,” I said, “I get it. I’m someone different. Okay, what’s your question?”
“My question is how do you get all that hope into your stories?”
“That’s not a good question,” I said. “That’s a great question. Let me think. Um. I guess that writing the story is an act of hope, and so even when I don’t feel hopeful, writing the story can lead me to hope. Does that make sense?”
“Yeah,” he said. He looked me in the eye. “It’s kind of a long answer. But I can write it all out. Thanks.”
He picked up his copy of Despereaux, and walked away—writing in his notebook.
This was years ago.
Why did I wake up this morning and think of this child?
Maybe because this is a time to start asking good questions, a time to write down the answers, a time to listen to each other really well.
I’m going to get myself a little spiral bound notebook.
I’m going to listen and hope.
-Kate DiCamillo – American author
in recent days
i have seen and read about
many gestures of hospitality
one reaching out to another
with each act
i find a renewed sense of hope.
—
“hospitality is always an act that benefits the host even more than the guest. the concept of hospitality arose in ancient times when the reciprocity was easier to see: in nomadic cultures, the food and shelter one gave to a stranger yesterday is the food and shelter one hopes to receive from a stranger tomorrow. by offering hospitality, one participates in the endless reweaving of a social fabric on which all can depend – thus the gift of sustenance for the guest becomes a gift of hope for the host.”
-parker j. palmer
I didn't have my glasses on.... 