Hope?
If you mention the movie Oliver!, most people are probably going to think, "Please, Sir, may I have some more?" This, followed by a bunch of kids singing and dancing about being hungry. (That's ok. I grew up with musical theater, and over the years people have sung and danced through a lot of incongruous subjects.)
When I think of Oliver!, I almost always first think of that little boy, sold for slave labor, locked in the basement, singing, "Where is love? Does it fall from skies above? Is it underneath the willow tree that I've been dreaming of?"
It broke my heart the first time I saw it. I was seven. (And it strikes me that right there is fodder for a whole 'nother essay.)
That lonely, hopeless, stuck-in-the-basement feeling? That's what's been echoing through so many people I know for the past several months. It's pervasive, and draining and contagious, and recurrent.
One friend is managing it by abandoning Facebook for Twitter. I suck at Twitter; I usually take a break or two every week from social media in general. The down side of that is I get twice the dose of "Oh HELL no!" when I come back. I recently saw another friend post, "I just can't handle politics anymore. It's bad for my spirit."
I get that. I so totally get that. But politics isn't going anywhere. We have to figure out how to deal with it.
I have a friend who posts fairly often about his twins. I think they're nine. They're hilarious and smart and cute as bugs. And they have amazing parents. Those kids give me hope about the future.
I watched a video today of a high school kid who played the Mario Brothers theme on a percussion instrument made of PVC pipes. Smart. Funny. Creative.
I have a couple of people who really freaking love me in a way I don't think anyone ever has, except maybe my grandfather, and I can't explain it, and I don't understand it, but when things are really dark, and I remember they're out there, it gives me hope.
Plus, my kitties.
Some folks are dealing with it by Taking Action. I feel like I should be doing that. And here's a thing that happens in my head. I wish I believed it would make a difference. <- That right there, my friend, is hopelessness.
I know better. I studied a whole lot of years of Neurolinguistic Programming and hypnotherapy. Some place inside my brain I know that beliefs aren't things that are foisted upon you, that you can choose which ones to have.
It's like I have a dusty old file cabinet of magic and power tools that I packed up and forgot about. And I'm the only one who can unpack them.
A lot of crazy crap is happening in the world right now. It's easy to sit in a dark room and not think about it. Except it's going to happen anyway, and that dark room is bad for us.
I'm telling myself that even if I can't change the Big Ugly Totally Unfair Life Altering Things, the sun is going to rise and set, the cats are going to eat and nap, and I need to get dressed and have a meal and do something that matters.
Any fucking thing.
Because somewhere a kid is creating music with plumbing equipment and a nine year-old is explaining why discrimination is wrong. Because Oliver found a way out of that basement. Because somebody loves me (and you), and hope is out there.
And in there.
We just have to unpack it.
--
This has been my entry for Week 13 of therealljidol. This week's prompt was, "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here." Thanks for reading.
Feel free to share a thing that gives you hope in the comments.
When I think of Oliver!, I almost always first think of that little boy, sold for slave labor, locked in the basement, singing, "Where is love? Does it fall from skies above? Is it underneath the willow tree that I've been dreaming of?"
It broke my heart the first time I saw it. I was seven. (And it strikes me that right there is fodder for a whole 'nother essay.)
That lonely, hopeless, stuck-in-the-basement feeling? That's what's been echoing through so many people I know for the past several months. It's pervasive, and draining and contagious, and recurrent.
One friend is managing it by abandoning Facebook for Twitter. I suck at Twitter; I usually take a break or two every week from social media in general. The down side of that is I get twice the dose of "Oh HELL no!" when I come back. I recently saw another friend post, "I just can't handle politics anymore. It's bad for my spirit."
I get that. I so totally get that. But politics isn't going anywhere. We have to figure out how to deal with it.
I have a friend who posts fairly often about his twins. I think they're nine. They're hilarious and smart and cute as bugs. And they have amazing parents. Those kids give me hope about the future.
I watched a video today of a high school kid who played the Mario Brothers theme on a percussion instrument made of PVC pipes. Smart. Funny. Creative.
I have a couple of people who really freaking love me in a way I don't think anyone ever has, except maybe my grandfather, and I can't explain it, and I don't understand it, but when things are really dark, and I remember they're out there, it gives me hope.
Plus, my kitties.
Some folks are dealing with it by Taking Action. I feel like I should be doing that. And here's a thing that happens in my head. I wish I believed it would make a difference. <- That right there, my friend, is hopelessness.
I know better. I studied a whole lot of years of Neurolinguistic Programming and hypnotherapy. Some place inside my brain I know that beliefs aren't things that are foisted upon you, that you can choose which ones to have.
It's like I have a dusty old file cabinet of magic and power tools that I packed up and forgot about. And I'm the only one who can unpack them.
A lot of crazy crap is happening in the world right now. It's easy to sit in a dark room and not think about it. Except it's going to happen anyway, and that dark room is bad for us.
I'm telling myself that even if I can't change the Big Ugly Totally Unfair Life Altering Things, the sun is going to rise and set, the cats are going to eat and nap, and I need to get dressed and have a meal and do something that matters.
Any fucking thing.
Because somewhere a kid is creating music with plumbing equipment and a nine year-old is explaining why discrimination is wrong. Because Oliver found a way out of that basement. Because somebody loves me (and you), and hope is out there.
And in there.
We just have to unpack it.
--
This has been my entry for Week 13 of therealljidol. This week's prompt was, "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here." Thanks for reading.
Feel free to share a thing that gives you hope in the comments.