If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you know that I’m always “looking for hope” and then showing you where I find it. Often, it’s not an obvious “find.” Because . . . hope is elusive. And sneaky. It hides.
And it certainly feels like it’s hiding now.
(For me, anyway.)
But you can be sure, I’m still going to look for it!
On the day after the election, Barbara Kingsolver wrote some beautiful words in just an ordinary (if you can call anything that Barbara Kingsolver writes “ordinary”) Instagram post. When I read her words, I got teary. Because there was hope. Even then.
Her words reminded me that looking for hope . . . is really the only way to move forward. Awful things happen all the time. To us. To people we love. To people we don’t know at all. Yet we all still hope for a better day tomorrow.
We’re going to keep finding hope . . . in bits and pieces, shards and fragments. Or maybe we’ll discover something hiding in plain sight that we never noticed before. Hope . . . is still out there, waiting for us to find it.
So keep your eyes open.
Look for hope.
“Truth and love have been smacked down, so many more times in history before today. Truth, because it’s so often inconvenient, and love because it is vulnerable. But truth is like gravity, and carbon, and the sun behind an eclipse: it’s still there. And love stays alive if you tend it like a flame. If you feel crushed by unkindness today, it’s a time of grieving, reaching out to loved ones, noticing one bright color somewhere in the day. Remembering what it is to love. Starting with the immediate, the places and people we can tend ourselves, and make safe. We can’t save everything all at once, but it’s still worth saving something. Because there are so many of us to do it. And we are all still here today, exactly as we were yesterday. Like gravity, and carbon, and the sun behind an eclipse.”
– Barbara Kingsolver, in an Instagram post on November 6, 2024
Come.
Fill your cup.
I did not see that post… so thank you for sharing it! I love her description of truth… powerful… which the truth is! I am also looking for hope… and these days I am finding it with Rilke. Hope flows from him straight into my heart. It is easier to spread a little love when you have a bit of hope. XO
I just got goosebumps. Thank you for this kindness while I drink my warm cup of tea, and greet the day.
Thank you for sharing Barbara Kingsolver’s words. I missed them but am glad that I’m reading her words of hope now. They have filled my cup and I am toasting you and Barbara. I will probably be reading them often over the next several months and beyond. I like your hope sigil!
Wise words from both you and Barbara. Thank you!
Thank you for your messages of hope, Kym. Life is full of tragedy for everyone. No one escapes it, and truths are more often inconvenient and bitter than we realize. What matters is what we do in the face of these truths and tragedies. I think all we can do is make the very best of our lives by taking care of ourselves and our loved ones. I love your motto.
I keep going back to re-read that post because it points me back to hope whenever I begin to feel discouraged. Thank you, Kym!
Oh, that’s wonderful!!
Thanks for sharing Barbara’s post. I like the reminder that we’re all still here just like we were before the horrible election results. And we can still care for each other and find and share our hope and our peace amidst what still feels pretty raw to me.
catching up with you … and a post a day this month! (thank you!) I was talking with a friend yesterday about fear and hope – and how they are both CHOICES we can make in the face of uncertainty … fear too often seems the easy choice (and much of our culture feeds that) and yet … Team Hope has some inspiring team members and I’d love to see us recruit more!
She is so very wise — and so very true! Truth, love, and hope don’t cease to exist just because some people try to insist that they do, but still we need to look for them.
Those are beautiful words indeed. Looking for hope is like looking for delight – sometimes it’s elusive but you can usually find it.
Barbara Kingsolvers speech at the National Book Awards was memorable and she was cutting the rug when the dancing started. She certainly is a role model during this time of uphevel.
I listened to Kingsolver’s speech at the National Book Awards that contained this quote. It was well worth my time. I especially appreciated how she spoke about the concept of truth always being present. I also love that she is an older woman – comfortable enough to wear a sparkly red dress.