"Hope is the Thing With Feathers..."

Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul,

And sings the tune without the words,

And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;

And sore must be the storm

That could abash the little bird

That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,

And on the strangest sea;

Yet, never, in extremity,

It asked a crumb of me.

--Emily Dickinson

My intuition told me over 2 months ago, life as I have known it is ending. With headlines that read, “Trump announces the United States is closing off its international flights to Europe," this Coronavirus pandemic is unlike anything I have ever seen in my lifetime. With a sinking heart, I have watched the world as I have known it stop.

Day after day comes more news of cancellations and restrictions, more news of the virus spreading and people getting sick and dying, and of my world getting smaller and smaller.

It continues with no definitive end in sight. As we all grapple with our new normal

and with the world crashing around us, I ask, “What is helping you get through days of unbelievable world crisis and fear?”

One word resonates with me...

Hope

Hope for something bigger and better to come out of this.

Hope for the people battling everyday to either avoid catching this disease or avoid giving it to others.

Hope that all those that have been taken by this illness will not die in vain.

Hope that because of their sacrifice, and all the brave heroic health care workers and doctors fighting this invisible war, that we will honor these unsung heroes by making the world a better place.

Hope for the next generation.

Hope that we will have more respect for Mother Earth and leave her cleaner.

Hope for a more spiritually attuned world .

Hope that we have been awoken.

Hope is what we have, and hope is what will get us through.

In the words of the famous holocaust survivor, author, professor, and Nobel Laureate, Ellie Wiesel,

“Hope is like peace. It is not a gift from God. It is a gift only we can give one another.“