Hope

Hope

Been thinking a lot about what to write for this December post. Feels like there are so many possibilities.

I finally settled on something short on the topic of HOPE. It feels like we need this and also that there are countless examples of it in 2020, even though it was such a strange year.  

I think about everyone who pivoted, thought differently, and took chances this year because of circumstances brought forth from the global pandemic.

I think about educators who taught and stayed connected with students in settings none of us had ever encountered before.

I think about students who entered new and different learning environments. I think about their parents who sometimes had to make hard choices about what they thought their kids needed and how they would try to get it.

I think about people who celebrated big moments and stayed connected with people they love online instead of in person.

I think about the scientists who worked so hard, and so fast, to create a vaccine to protect people against a deadly virus.

I think about everyone who kept showing up – to connect, to work, to learn, to love, to care, to grow, to help, to try, to innovate, to be present.    

I think about all of this, and I also think about Anderson Cooper saying “hope is not a plan” during the Hurricane Katrina coverage on CNN.  

It’s true. Hope is not a plan, but I think it can be part of the plan. I think it needs to be. I think it is hard to move forward otherwise, especially right now.  

Last night I read these words from Anne Lamott (cementing that I would write about hope today):
“Hope is not about proving anything. It’s choosing to believe this one thing, that love is bigger than any grim bleak shit anyone can throw at us.”

YES.

My friend RJ – a cancer survivor – once said “Believe in hope.”

And I do.

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Wishing you and everyone in your orbit a hopeful and healthy new year – with heartfelt thanks for reading and supporting my writing in 2020!

Photo: From an outdoor walk less than a mile from my house on December 11, 2020