And yet there is hope.

I'm really struggling with this post. I want to write it, but I'm having trouble finding a way to begin with the tone I want to set. Which is one of hope. 

Forgive me. I'm going to get there. To hope. But first I think I have to acknowledge the despair that currently feels like it is swirling around us, threatening our existence. 

We are stumbling through a pandemic that feels unnecessarily difficult. The consequences of said pandemic are causing economic devastation and unfathomable death to families across the country, in cities and towns of red and blue alike. Our government feels like it is incapable of functioning and yet able to dismantle a nation through that dysfunction. There are double-hurricanes and apocalyptic wildfires. 

We are struggling mightily. 

And yet. 

There is hope. There is always hope. 

But reason to hope is often not as plainly evident as cause for despair. Despair assaults us and surrounds us and makes us feel powerless. It robs us of our senses and leaves us in the dark, unable to see clearly. 

We can't allow ourselves to fall to the pangs of darkness that stalk us. We need to open our eyes wider and let the light in, let the hope become visible. Focus on it.

We have to do this for ourselves. We have to do this for each other. 

Look around. The hope is there. Wrestle free of the chains of disappointment and allow yourself to feel the freedom of optimism. If you can't feel it, send out a search party--give it a real effort! Look around carefully. 

Hope is out there. All around. Patiently waiting for you to see.