H O P E ... it's a funny little word that conjures a different mental experience for everyone, I think. There's the HOPE a young girl has when her menstrual cycle seems like it is coming after being foolish enough to have had unprotected sex. There is the HOPE in watching someone we love attempt something grandiose and desperately wanting them to be successful. There is the HOPE that comes to some on Sunday evening when wishing for a different week. There is HOPE one has when praying that someone not die, get sick or suffer.
HOPE.
Merriam Webster writes that HOPE is to cherish a desire with anticipation - to expect with confidence. I see HOPE in the eyes of children, in the Pacific Ocean sunsets, and the sparkling stars of a nights sky. I see it in the faces of some clergy, in a warm summer breeze, and in a bicycle ride down a hill with legs out stretched to the side. I love the beauty that is HOPE.
There is foolish HOPE, like when we wish someone else will change, or bring us what we think we need, or carry our burdens. These are often the unanswered foolish HOPE. And quite possibly the type of HOPE that leads to heartache. Ahhhh damn the foolish HOPE ... it will bite ya' every time.
Speaking as someone who has often picked her ass back up from being knocked to the ground, I can say with certainty that I have experienced all the diverse nuances of HOPE. The most painful is foolish HOPE, which seems to stem from a desire to hide from the world, rather than running and embracing it with everything we've got. But hiding in this HOPE is ok ... sometimes we need it in order to rest and set our sites on a new dream. Or to be able to dust off an old one and bring it out into the light.
I have seen the walking HOPEless in the eyes of poverty, in the face of abuse and the passion of greed. I have seen it in adults who accept less from the world, and attempt to bring others down with them. A soul void of HOPE is cruel heartache looking for something to destroy. Be wary of the HOPEless, those that will try to make you less than you are. Keep your eye on the mark ... supported by HOPE ... and let the HOPEless go. As soon as you do, there is a freeing experience that comes with the letting go.
I like how Emily Dickenson puts it, ""Hope" is the thing with feathers-- That perches in the soul-- And sings the tune without the words-- And never stops--at all." We must remove our own weighted bags of sand and soar upwards...
for the next dream begins with new HOPE.
Until next time-
C
