Dear Friends, Family, Colleagues, Others I Know Well, Sort of Well and Not At All,
How do I find, define and hold onto hope for the New Year after such a topsy-turbulent year? 2016 challenged my belief in human decency and the value of facts – facts are an essential ingredient to a civil society. On a personal level, this has been a year of change for me and my family. This has been a year of growth for my children. This has been a year of great sadness with many deaths of leading cultural figures of my time and my generation. This has been a year when my mother’s physical and cognitive health took a huge blow with a big stroke. I am not able to call her tonight for the traditional Happy New Year well wishes, nor to tell her how her granddaughter’s birthday (just two days ago) went or to tell her small insignificant things that help to make up daily life.
My resolve, capacity for resiliency and buoyancy is challenged at the beginning of 2017. I will, however, forge forward and lean into life with a determined hope. I will be leaning in with the kind of humanity that informs hope. This has to be a hope that transcends dark forces. This has to be a hope that has the ability to morph and reshape itself into an agile being – like a super hero that has yet to be named. My hope will not fall prey to the seduction of only bashing the overly powered who most likely will make choices to enrich their existing power. My hope will be challenged to live in its purist form.
Join me in hope. Let’s join the forces of humanity in creating hope. A toast: Here’s to hope.
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