In many ways, I am one of the "lucky ones." I have reached a stage of life where I can embark on adventures, embrace new interests, and enjoy a well earned semi-retired status. I have friends and family who encourage me to exercise, interact, and enjoy life. Yet, as this new year begins, I feel anxious, worried, and adrift.
I have friends and loved ones fighting formidable foes and there is little I can do to support their battles. I live in a town where food insecurity is happening on every street. I watch profound confusion about the "best way" to assure all students become readers in spite of generations of research that prove without a doubt that students need strategies (phonemic awareness and phonics) as well as background (vocabulary and comprehension) and opportunities for meaningful practice in books they enjoy (fluency). I live in a country that has forgotten that 5 years ago a mob attacked our Capital and normalized bombing and invading. I live in a world where it has become "normal" to marginalize all of us who look, act or think different from those who are "in power."
I am sad and afraid; however, I remember the message from Pandora's box. While sickness, greed, and suffering are part of humanity, it is only in HOPE that we might find the resilience to endure and persist against evil.
For now, I am going to hold onto HOPE because otherwise, I am not sure I can face a new year with a smile!
9 comments:
You picked a meaningful word, and as I read your post, I share so many of the same worries and heartache. I'm going to keep taking action (and being in community with others) to help me feel less hope-less and more hope-full - I hope that can be true for you, too.
That is one of the best words for these times we live in. Hope. I can't think of a better word for today - and tomorrow.....and forever.
Hope is critical right now. Hope for A future. Hope for a Better World. Hope for human decency and kindness.
Bravo, Anita!
I agree that your word is a good choice. I am looking forward to reading how you can put HOPE into action.
Hope is a powerful word.
Hold onto hope sounds like a good mantra. And it reminds me that our hope should be backed up with action (like attending my precinct's meeting on Saturday). This group continually inspires me to press onward. Thanks for your words.
Anita, I feel your post in my BONES. In some ways, it feels difficult - almost a betrayal in some ways - to claim joy for myself in the midst of so much insecurity and fear.
And yet. It's that hope, that joy, in the face of so much despair, that can be an act of defiance.
So here's to hope. Here's to living with integrity and goodness, and to carving out spaces in this difficult world where there is still love and light. =)
Anita, you have articulated many of the thoughts I had as I chose my OLW. For me part of not feeling hopeless is embracing the fight against authoritarianism, and that can take many forms. I have hope because I’m tenacious. I simply am not built to give in when I’m on the sight of the angels and righteousness. I also take lots of inspiration from black women and civil rights icons who show me how to hold onto hope and find joy, the enemy of that guy in the WH, even when the world feels hopeless.
I'll bet that most, if not all of us, are holding that four-letter word dear as we take the first steps into 2026. If you have not read the Hanif Abdurraqib essay in the New Yorker, "In Defense of Despair," I hope you'll do so. "...by the mercy of simply looking up and looking around, I can see that there are people willing to love me,"
(https://www.newyorker.com/culture/essay/in-defense-of-despair)
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