On Hope, Connection, and Nature As Our Higher Power

Hope.

On this post election morning, may we be not ashamed for having hoped. May we forever fortified by hope's beauty and steadfastness. What was hoped for is not lost. Just taking a different route, like water finding a way where there is no way.

I am currently in Asheville, NC, packing up the last of my things to move to California where. This morning, I sat outside amongst falling leaves showering down around my shoulders. As I looked up at the sky, a single leaf floated down and booped me on the nose, like one of my playful foster pups giving me a nudge. I laughed.

Looking up at the vastness of the sky, feeling the rootedness of these trees that survived Hurricane Helene, I am reminded that human systems of power are not our higher power. Nature, beauty, connection, justice--these are our higher power. And they are not going away.

A bowl of golden fruit on my kitchen table reminds me of my favorite quote about hope, by Frances Mayes: “Five tender apricots in a blue bowl, a brief and exact promise of things to come.”

Loving, nurturing and fanning the flames of your heart's hopes,

Mary

Image via Unsplash by Kate Laine