A Message of Hope
Words by Sarah Hartley, Editor in Chief
I know, “hope” isn’t something that is probably going to be associated with 2020 in the long run. This year has been HARD. But now that it’s almost over, I want us to push those thoughts to the side and think about the concept of hope. This moment in our lives is historic, especially here in the US. With a major election, an increased awareness of racial injustice, a pandemic, and an obvious look at climate change, this year is one that will not be forgotten - and not in a good way. But hope can persevere, even in 2020.
That’s why it felt like a great topic to address inside Illuminate, our writing community. We asked our Illuminate members to write about hope this month, and below you’ll find a roundup of their take on this subject. We hope you’ll visit each post and maybe even meet your new favorite writer.
Stay Hopeful, My Friends by Christi Jeane
Life’s little moments
Give us hope when all else seems
Fraught with fear, despair
hope in the time of 2020. by Eunice Brownlee
Let’s get real, y’all. This year was a shit show. Personally, I knew it was going to be that way when Alissa disappeared on New Year’s Day for 53 straight hours. You don’t start your year discussing with your attorney the legal implications of hiring a PI to find your missing daughter and have high hopes.
In It Together by Laci Olivia
I am at the dentist’s office, reclined in a dental chair, about to get my teeth cleaned. She leans over my face with her arms at the ready and starts talking. I look into her eyes, through the face shield, picturing her whole face under the mask from her freckles to her smile lines; all the unique features of her face as far as I can remember them.
Who is your only hope? by Amy Rich
Any Star Wars geek can recite Princess Leia saying, “Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope.” For so many years, I looked at men as my only hope. Men would rescue me from whatever nonsense I was dealing with. My dad rescued me from monsters, my husband rescued me from my dad, my Dom rescued me from my husband, and so on. I have always been a girl that loved fairy tales and loved wishing wells, shooting stars, dandelion fluff, and four-leaf clovers. Somewhere over the years, I have become jaded.
The 2020 Storm by Adeola Sheehy
My word for 2020 was ‘visible’. I wanted to be more visible, make my work more visible. I wanted to gather up all the different parts of me, make them into one and then pluck up the courage to show them to the world.
Then I woke up to 2020, the isolation, the enforced hiding away, the becoming invisible.
Hope Over Survival by Sarah Hartley
As we near the end of 2020, I am just one among the millions who cannot wait for this year to be over. This completely unpredictable year that felt like one hardship after another. This year that turned so many of our lives and our livelihoods upside down. For much of the year it felt like we were army crawling along, trying not to get hit by yet another swinging branch.
Will January 1, 2021 bring anything different?
Optimist on Purpose by Megan Dellecese
Even before the pandemic, I didn’t consider myself to be a hopeful person.
I was raised as a realist. Looking back, I probably would have become a big, blubbering optimist if our father hadn’t died when I was three years old. Instead, my pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps mother mourned in silence and paved a stalwart path of fortitude for the four of us all to walk. And, so, it stuck.
A Story About a Dog by Jenn Norrell
I can still hear my daughter calling Freeeetoooe between heaving sobs. I can see her red, tear-filled eyes and sunken shoulders as we walk off trail around saguaros and cholla, watching our steps for rattlesnakes or other dangers of the desert, then stopping to scan the horizon for any sight of our dog. That morning, a sunny Sunday in November, my husband towed our Airstream out of our campsite to go dump our tanks. “Idgie and I will meet you at the dump station” I said as we set off walking our little chihuahua Frito through the campground.
Shifting Sands of Hope by Mia Sutton
My thoughts on hope have slowly shifted
Like the sands beneath our feet
Sometimes I have a good grip
Sometimes I admit defeat
Write More. Write Better. Stay Inspired.
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