Hope is an integral part of well being, made up of the belief that we can find pathways to our life goals and the ability to follow through (agency) and achieve them. Hope is serious business. Emily Dickinson’s poem, “Hope is the thing with feathers,” simple and inspiring, has been a helpful reminder to me during difficulties.
YES we are blessed with an ever available source of love, “perched” in our souls. YES this source of love can withstand great storms. YES we can trust this source to guide us in uncertain times. But….unlike in the poem, Hope does require something from us and asks far more than “a crumb.”
A high sense of hope comes from taking care of ourselves, for surrounding ourselves with a community of support, and engaging in practices that make us creative and strong. We need creativity to find new pathways to our goals and we need strength to sustain us in following through and achieving our goals. Especially when our goals are as immediate as “today I will not give up.”
How are you feeding your Hope?
Hope is the thing with feathers by Emily Dickinson
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.
