“Hope” is a thing with feathers
Henny and I had just finished recording her latest podcast – where we talk about the power of journaling and the wonderful guide to flow journaling that Henny has written for Inner Work Project.
Henny asked if I would like her to draw a little card from her deck, LoveWords.
And I was given hope.
What a word.
I looked up its origins, which trace back to Old English, inherited from German.
Hope’s close relative is trust.
And it also meant, and still does, ‘confidence in the future’.
We are shown little in the way of hope on our screens or in our newspapers at this time. And while I agree it’s essential that we know what’s happening around the world, I wish that news of hope was given more attention, too.
Because if we knew just how many people in the world care for each other, want to live in peace, be better stewards of the planet and be more understanding of each other – well, I reckon we’d be pretty heartened by that news. We might feel empowered rather than powerless; energised rather than drained.
Hope is a ‘high vibration’ word. It’s light. It feels light. As Emily Dickinson wrote, it is a ‘thing with feathers’. Perhaps that’s why some feel it’s not realistic. But we can also ground hope by bringing it into our hearts, into our body and into our day. We can sense it in Spring emerging in a joyful burst, despite the mud! In the soil waking up (you know that smell?). In the birdsong. In the smile of a passing stranger.
It’s everywhere.
Positive News is a wonderful website and magazine that shares what went right this week.
And on an individual level, it is so helpful to remind ourselves at the end of each day the things that went well, or that we handled, or touched us.
Hope is my kind of resistance.
Here is Henny’s podcast, where we turned the tables and explored her new book ‘In the Flow’. Do have a listen 🎧. I’m thrilled with the book – my wish for Inner Work Project is to co-create books that really help us to connect with our own inner guidance, where we can learn about a practice from a trusted guide and then go ahead and get started straightaway on the page. Henny is just the best guide I could hope for when it comes to journaling. She has a very gentle, very effective way of helping to open up the channel and let your wisest self do the writing.
Henny said something at the end that I’d like to share…
“Journaling enabled me to meet myself with love in a way that I had never been able to meet myself before… it enabled me to learn how to fall in love with myself… and I see that as being the foundation to all successful change.”