Searching for light

The last few weeks have been challenging. Attic renovations were in full swing, the sink in our main bathroom sprung a leak (several actually), a short-term consulting contract consumed more time than expected, after two months of drought our wells are painfully low on water, and we attended three funerals, including two for close family members.

Add to those challenges more grim news about the state of our environment, a looming recession, and worries about the upcoming federal election, and it's hard to be cheerful.

I felt particularly low after a long day of driving to Tatamagouche and back to attend a dear aunt's funeral. Though it was joyful spending time with family, celebrating Aunt Helen's long and productive life, and revisiting childhood memories, I was physically and emotionally drained by the time we arrived home that evening. The next day I finished chores early, then spent the afternoon resting and reading on the back deck. I'd been trying to finish a book Husband recommended, Downbelow Station by C.J. Cherryh, which - though well-written - was a bit of a slog because it's set in such a miserably dystopian future. 

Fortunately, during one of my forays into the kitchen for snacks, I noticed the sunflowers we'd purchased at the market in the morning, glowing in the sunlight streaming through the kitchen window - a powerful reminder of the light and beauty that remains in the world.

There's hope too - in the love and caring of family,

...in the determination and commitment of Greta Thumburg and the thousands answering her call to action,

Photo by Adam Berry/Getty Images

...and in the complexity and resilience of the natural world.

To close, some powerful quotes about searching for light in dark times. 

“I don't think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains.”
― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

“But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.”
― Martin Luther King, Jr. 

“I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one's head pointed toward the sun, one's feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.”
― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: Autobiography of Nelson Mandela 

“The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope.”
― Barack Obama