Resilience 2021: the 10th Seed of Hope

I am thinking of you as you ease your way into 2021. After so much that used to be "normal" in our lives has been lost in the wake of 2020 - and in the ashes of the devastating bush fires this week where I live - I hope that your year has begun with a little hope.

In Perth, Australia, our garden has quietened to the heavy hush of high summer. In the heat, our trees have let go leaves and unopened buds. They simply can't sustain these while withstanding the long hot dry. The birds who made babies in the spring have flown away with their offspring, apart from one young kookaburra who is learning to find food for himself amongst our garden leaf litter. Also withstanding the long, hot dry, my husband Rob and I are spending less time in our garden -- especially this week with Perth once again in lockdown. Into this stillness, thoughts emerge... 

Reflecting on the year that has been like no other in my lifetime, I wonder how to approach this new one. So much has gone. On what ground do I place my feet now? Re-reading my past Seeds of Hope -- usually a helpful resource -- doesn't deliver this time. Knowing that my external world will never return to what it was a year ago, I look within for some permanence. And from there come these words that echo what my grand daughter's Christmas 2020 artwork (see below) tells:

Resilience 2021:

Holding onto the hope
That there is kindness in this world
And this is a good purpose.

Recently Rob told me about a word he'd just met -- "risorgimento" -- to describe what our human world is now experiencing. The word translates from Italian as "rising again." Rob said that "risorgimento" was suggested to be the ground from which we humans are now rising; ground of re-awakening on which we have never before stood. I thought about this. What the world around me was in early 2020 will never return. My rising again into this new year must start from within -- from my place of kindness. But how do I rise again in a way that's helpful to me and everyone I connect with, and be relevant to the world that's emerging? 

Perhaps letting go any expectation of permanence in my external world is a good place to start. Simply let it go. Like our trees letting go leaves and buds so they can persevere through summer, this expectation takes energy which is not fruitful in these times. Instead, I am thinking about the many stories of kindness and resilience despite the horrors of the pandemic and our bushfires. Amongst so much loss and pain, people often chose to go out of their way to help their fellow humans. I was, and remain, in awe.

Today, I stand on the ground of re-awakening. My world has changed beyond recognition, and not from my choosing. Yet here I stand with you and all our fellow humans, and with all the other living beings on this planet. From my heart is a persistent call to encourage more of this kindness by scribing these stories -- tales of kindness and resilience despite the temptation to hide away in fear and loss. This feels a good purpose, one that will help us to maintain our hope as our new world unfolds. Yes, I can do this. 

However, I can't do this alone - to be meaningful, this writing needs many stories from many people. If you would like to share your and/or others' stories for this project, they will be most welcome. Please click on the box below to email me.

As you make your way into 2021, I wish you Hope and Kindness.

Wendy