A Bit of Hope

As I sit down to write my first blog , my mind is inundated with all that surrounds me at this moment – the chatter and hum of conversations and the very loud, confident, and reassuring voice of the cashier as he takes sandwich orders. There is so much life here in this room, along with the many stories – stories that we all have that make us who we are, and then I think of the stories that have unfolded and are unfolding outside the safety and comfort of this eatery. They originate from the more recent senseless shootings in Pennsylvania and Thousand Oaks – to the horrific fires in Butte County and down in Malibu – so much pain, destruction, and death, and I search for how to handle it all. As always, my go to is the voice of my very sweet father who would always say, “Dopo il brutto viene il bello, e dopo il bello viene il brutto,” (after the bad comes the good, and after the good comes the bad,” his simplistic, yet profound version of the yin and yang of life .  This memory then helps me to open up my “hope” box, and I concentrate on being present – on smiling more to strangers – on being kinder – more patient – more grateful for what we have and less disgruntled for what we don’t have – helping in whatever way we can – extending any form of compassion out to the universe. This is the only way I know so as not to get mired in the muck – in the despair.