HOPE

 

and so we have two winners!  they are misti lynn hall, and mary (gingham girl).  i'd love to share with you what each of them said in response to my question about hope.  from misti:What is Hope to me?  Hope is a "feeling" for me that is hard to express with words. I know that I am "feeling" HOPE when I recognize it with joy in my heart and it speaks to my soul.  My greatest teachers of HOPE have been the Hospice patients I have worked with and little children".  and from mary:  "Each day I am able to open my eyes and get out of bed fills me with the hope of all that is to come, of all good things yet to unfold. Of course my family is woven into this blanket of hope. They make it all possible.".  congratulations, gals, for being randomly selected!  i'll be in touch with both of you for mailing information.

i looked back at some of my past photography and artwork to see what reminded me of hope, and thought i'd share with you a few of these images and notions.  i absolutely love the photograph below - of moth wings that were plastered to the deck, after a summer rain.  the body was long gone - surely eaten by a grateful bird - but the wings remained, and the image of them reminds me to sail to greater heights, to hope for brighter days on the horizon.  yes we can!

when i look at this photo, taken sometime earlier this month, i am reminded that symbols of life come to us in many forms, great and small - even if  they are only fluttering around a table lamp or against the window screen.  yes we can!

i look at the artwork here to my left, and remember that it was created in a journal i had made for the year 2006 - and the entry was marked january 16.  i've not ever been able to go back and work in that journal;  not one week later, my brother died unexpectedly in the middle of the night.  what i didn't know for most of the rest of that year is that the great loss of my dearly loved brother would bring me new insight and deeper understanding of  this finite thing we call life, and with that insight, came hope.  and ben, i thank you for that.  yes, we can!

i see the little book i made back in 2001, one that slips inside an antique metal purse, that states on the cover what i listed within its pages.  i've walked over to the bookshelf where it rests, and flip open the palm sized book to more closely inspect.  what i am, it says, in old pasted dictionary words:  mother, daughter, sister, friend, artist, lover, impatient, observant, spiritual, nurturer, open, succinct, genuine, merry, traveler, hot tempered, treasure gatherer.  what i hope and strive to be:  wise, quick, deep, organized, stable, steady, fortified, luminous, merciful, tender, loving, gentle, expressive, healthy, peaceful, quiet, blissful, memorable.  well, one can certainly try.  yes we can! 

for being there, i thank you.  for openly and generously offering up your words of hope, i thank you and thank you and thank you.  

i'll do my best to be luminous, as the little book so hopefully states.  it may take the rest of my life to learn how to radiate, to send out light from my heart to the rest of my world; but for now - on this day of summer solstice, of longest light - i'll burn a candle into the dark, i'll extend the glow from twilight on, i'll remember your words and hold them close and will bask in the warmth that they bring.  xo  

 

 

 

Comments

[Regina, St. Maarten (DWI)]

Nina,

Once again: thank you!!

[Erin Gergen Halls]

I'll do my best awards show smile, you know, the one given by the person who DIDN'T win and congratulate Misti Lynn and Mary and HOPE that one day I too will warm a piece of your art close to my heart...
We should all create The List of who we want to become and revise it often. Then, and most importantly, put the plan into action. The best we can be is just WAITING for us to become it! Yes We Can!

[Diana Frey]

Nina...know that you are "luminous" already. Your heart light shines brightly to so many. Thank you for being so open, wise and giving.
Diana

[June]

Drats! I missed the contest, I can only HOPE that there will be another opportunity to receive a piece of your wonderful jewelry. :-) There are so many things that I hope for...happiness...peace...love...for everyone close and for those who are not, because we are all somehow connected in this wild and crazy universe!

[Pat A.]

Congratulations to Misti & Mary! I am looking forward to hearing about more of your adventures and seeing more of your art work you did in your travel journals........

[Cindy Dean]

I love the idea of a book of who I hope to be! That is so awesome. Your are so kind and generous with your heart and soul Nina and you do radiate!

[misty]

hope: to believe, desire, or trust...

i hope that life will continue to give me a warm hand to hold when the days seem longer than usual, a gentle push in the right direction when my feet feel heavy, a kind gesture when i am feeling left out, an open heart to see the best in the world when my head tries to tell me differently, loving eyes to see those that need to be seen with love and not with judgment, a safe place where i can create what my heart desires and share it with those that care to see, appreciation for the little things that make every day worth being grateful to be alive, and I hope life will continue to give me time, time to be all that I am and all that i can be.
sending you much love. xo

[Cindy Ericsson]

You are luminous and you do send out so much light from one dear heart. Thank you.

[Erin Gergen Halls]

Well, Misty said in your "hope" post that she needed to think of her answer and get back to you, and she certainly did. I am going to copy what she wrote on the chalkboard wall in my kitchen for my eyes to see daily. And my children's eyes. And my husband's. And all guest's...
Beautiful.

[Sandy from Berkeley]

Dearest Nina, you already ARE luminous and you DO send out light. You don't have to strive for that...it's a natural part of you!
Yes we can!
Sandy

[herhimnbryn]

Hallo Illuminata!
You string your words as you do your necklaces. Each wordl ornament perfectly juxtaposed.
I have a small new site, drop by if you can.
A joyous w/e to you and Aspen.

[Debbie Scribner]

You truly are a gentle Being of light..you are generous with your warmth and in sharing the beauty of this one precious and sacred Earth...Bless you sweet Nina..

[Vicki in MIchigan]

Ah, Nina, you have nothing to learn about sending the light from your heart into the world. Except maybe to believe it is happening.......

[Tina in McLeansville]

Lucky, lucky ladies....I hope as they wear them they feel the love that I'm sure went into making them...the joy of having one of your precious pieces. We are all in this journey together and it is only right that we should want the best for each other always. I used to tell my students "Hand in hand, yes we can." Hope you have a wonderful weekend, Nina B.

[Tracie Lyn Huskamp]

oh my dearest poet... you sing like the meadowlark lingering in fields during midday, content among the summer blooms.

your beautiful voice carries a melody of precious affirmations, and we cannot help but stop to listen... for such joyful reverberations fill our hearts with much gladness.

sing on, sweet meadowlark... sing on

xo always!

[Mary]

Wow! You have no idea how shocked I was to read your post and find out I had actually won one of your beautiful charms. You can be assured that it will be TREASURED. Thank you, so much, my dearest Nina.

[Heather Bradley]

Oh my gosh, Nina, you DO send out light into the world...I don't "know" you, we've never met, but your words and pictures and shared thoughts spill beauty into my world all the time. They make me think, they give me hope, they send me off into the rest of my day with a smile on my heart. You are luminous...keep shining!
XO
P.S. loved being reminded of the quote from a Midsummer's Nights Dream...one of my favorites!

[Michelle]

I must confess I'm a little jealous of the fortunate Misti Lynn and Mary! And thank you again for more of your beautiful words. Always uplifting and inspiring.

[Amanda]

Please, Please write a book! You are a lovely, inspiring woman, and your luminosity is present in your writing! I Hope that someday, life will bring you down that road, and we will all be there to support and cheer you on! (and buy the book!) :) Hugs-amanda

[Ramona Gault]

Dear Nina, you have a way of saying just what I needed to hear at that moment. Lately I've been beating myself up over my shortcomings--digging the hole deeper and deeper. Then I see your precious little book and read about the self you are and the self you want to become, and my tears come. I'm grateful you're here for us--you ARE a healer, with your timely words and breath-takingly beatiful creations. Both the words and pretty things open our hearts, open a space in our lives where we can breathe more easily. What speaks to me most, I think, is sensing that you're on the same path we are, with the same struggles. Unlike so-called "motivational" speakers, you don't pretend to have the answers. You simply offer up your own observations, gathered by standing in the same place we all stand. Hugs and smiles to you all day!

[Candace]

Thank you, my dear.