Between December 2023 and January 2025, I almost lost hope.
This loss of hope spread like a virus, infecting my resilience in my:
- work as a trauma, ptsd, and grief recovery advocate
- small business
- marriage
- belief in myself
As a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and multiple trauma and grief events through the course of my life, I had many resiliency skills at my disposal.
I used them all, fighting the infection that threatened to take me down.
This strategy didn’t work.
Instead, once I leaned into the feelings of despair and hopelessness that threatened, the virus’s symptoms began to decrease.
Through this process, two important questions bubbled up to the surface:
- What is hope?
- Where do we turn when we feel there’s no more hope?
In the next few weeks, there will be blog posts with videos about the five essential skills to keep from losing hope for good.
Losing Hope? Here is the First Essential Skill
Below is the concept, question, and skill referenced in the video.
Hope is eternal.
Hope is a Thing With Feathers by Emily Dickinson
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I’ve heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.
Hope Question
How have I witnessed hope in my life already?
Hope Skill
Remember what you’ve already been through.
Make a list – on paper or your phone – of the toughest experiences and events you have weathered. It’s important to be able to see it with your eyes.
Give the list a snazzy name and hang it where you can be reminded of how strong and capable you are.
Feeling Hopeless? Let’s Chat!
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