“…it is at the hopeless moment that we require the hopeful man, and the virtue either does not exist at all, or begins to exist at that moment. Exactly at the instant when hope ceases to be reasonable it begins to be useful.”—G. K. Chesterton, Heretics
If Good, we deserve to find what we seek. If attained by another, we should be happy for them as we hope others would be for us.
I have found a happiness. For years I lost it, but I’ve discovered it again. I love giving it away and believing it might make a difference to others too. It lights me up, and even if all I do is write and share, it is something that gives me joy.
Writing from a state of Hope paints a world in poetry, helps perceive a life in prose. Maybe you don’t need it (even as you read), but it is there for others who maybe do.
I know I’m not reasonable. I won’t pretend to be. I spent years deferring to reason, rationality—cold logic. It burnt me out. A world of logic has no place for magic, and without Wonder, there is little life in living. Give me the magic. Give me the Wonder. I will gladly be the fool.
I listened to an analogy the other day. It spoke of every person holding different codes, and within these codes, each person possesses the potential to unlock and express certain qualities in others with whom they come across in life. When I heard that, I thought of others that have crossed my life, their pieces of code that broke my own encryptions and led to a more full expression of who it is I am today. I wondered after for whom—if anyone—I might have done the same.
I understand I may be foolish. I don’t mind. I’m alive. I am happy in a simple Hope. I can smile and ask, ‘What harm have I done expressing a grateful spirit?”
My hope gives a goodness, it flames a light that is of me, and from it I offer what gifts it may create: words, thoughts, smiles, simple acts. They are small gifts, but gifts all the same.
Love is not contingent on reciprocation. We control, of it, only that which we express.
I choose to shine that which is in me. I remain a hopeful man.