I’ve been thinking about where people can find hope, in a world with so much $#!+ going on—so I wanted to share with you some sources of hope for me.
In my August 7 post featuring my art of Velvet Mesquite seedpods, I mentioned that to me seedpods symbolize hope. Nature is a prime source of hope for me!
Even mini moments in nature can be inspiring and hopeful, like yesterday when (as I was finalizing this post) I saw green Sweat Bees pollinate our orange Caltrops flowers, and a yellow Cloudless Sulphur butterfly eclose from its pink chrysalis! 😍
Back to our Velvet Mesquites…a month after I observed those seedpods, our Mesquites flowered again, producing a second round of seedpods, so I chronicled their development from catkins (long skinny flower clusters) to seedpods in my Perpetual Journal.
Another Source of Hope
I also find hope in taking action, as a way to try to right things that I feel are wrong in our world. As an example, Hubby & I and a good friend of ours recently volunteered to write postcards to American voters, to help encourage more people to vote in the November 4 elections.
I’ve written many “get out the vote” postcards the past few years, and when I volunteered to write more this year, I thought about how taking action gives me hope. I realized for me this is a positive feedback loop—taking action helps me have hope, and having hope helps me take action—a cycle that repeats itself over and over. That realization then resulted in the following art of mine.
Even though 2025 isn’t a presidential election year, and these other elections (for governors, state Supreme Court justices, redistricting efforts, etc.) may seem less important, the outcomes can definitely affect the direction of our country. For example, state Supreme Court justices can affect environmental laws (an issue of great interest to me and I assume readers of this blog).
For those of you who feel like I’m preaching to the choir, because you’re already taking action to try to make our world a better place, I say thank you!
If any of you feel like taking action in order to feel more hopeful, and are thinking of volunteering for get out the vote efforts, just do an online search for get out the vote postcard writing 2025 or (if making phone calls is more your style) do an online search for get out the vote phone banking 2025.
In any case, I hope you’re finding safe and healthy ways to feel more hopeful in these challenging times!
“Hope...is...an ability to work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed.”
- Vaclav Havel
Thank you for being here! I appreciate it. See you next week!
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Thank you for bringing light to the cycle of hope. Seeds of Nature seed our thoughts to grow a better, kinder, wholesome world for everyone.