That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,
Emily Dickenson
In winters past, my Hope was for a speedy return to gardening and Hope that the furnace would last just a few more months. This year instead of just thinking of winter as something to endure ( or escape) until Spring begins, I am embracing the season. I am taking 10 degree walks in the forest preserve in my giant down coat, making soup and stoking the fireplace. I no longer want to waste my present moments in regret for the past or fear of the future. I feel full of hope and gratitude for so many things. Howard Zinn expresses these thoughts beautifully:
“TO BE HOPEFUL in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.
What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places—and there are so many—where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”
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