As of this morning, there have been 47 writers and bloggers who have been invited to participate in Hope 2012: A Blog Relay. The work, so far, is phenomenal. I mean, it’s really, crazy-freaking-good stuff. I’m a teeeensy fish in this growing pond. Like, a guppy. I couldn’t be happier.
I can’t wait to see how much farther the baton will go. If you want to read some of the entries thus far, go back to the original post and click through the links at the bottom. Then, just keep following the race! Cool, cool stuff.
Here’s a little quote that I read this morning from Jermaine M. McDonald’s turn with the baton (LOVE this):
I am convinced that hope is communal virtue. By that, I mean that it is almost impossible to maintain hope when one is or feels alone. It is too easy to fall into despair when facing the challenges of the day, both personal and social.
And now I shall share with you a slightly embarrassing little tidbit about me. Because I’m working on being vulnerable, remember?
So, here it is: sometimes I do this thing I have deemed “Self-Parenting Artwork.” I treat myself like a fragile, teensy, impressionable kid, and imagine what a good, loving, parent would say to that kid. I think of something kind. Something encouraging. Something that a fragile, teensy person might need to hear. And then I write that something out using crayon, and I don’t judge the quality of it. I pretend that it’s being made by a one-eyed baby gibbon, in which case, it’s quite impressive. And then I put my crayon drawing of encouraging words on the refrigerator for as long as needed.
So there it is. I told you something kind of stupid about me. I hope that some of you try it. As silly as it is, it’s a terribly caring thing to do for yourself and some days—well, we just need a little extra care.
I’ll leave you with what I did today—today, which was another day of fighting through the loneliness of being the only adult in my home during the daytime; another day of feeling overwhelmed by who I want to be in the world; another day of needing just a little more hope on my side. I’ll leave you with my silly drawing, which pairs nicely with the quote from Mr. McDonald.
Tada!
Go give yourself some hugs from me, okay? Cool.
NotSoSuperMom
/ August 10, 2012Fighting the clock (and a napless one-yr-old) but I gave it the old college try….
http://www.not-so-super-mom.com/2012/08/hope-this.html
icescreammama
/ August 10, 2012Don’t know if i linked right. I’m no good at the techno stuff… but he’s some hope, hopefully.
Laugh Till You Cry
http://icescreammama.com/2012/08/10/laug…
An Idealist Thinker
/ August 9, 2012You are good, Melanie. I think I will follow ! : )
laurie
/ August 8, 2012Being vulnerable is one of my biggest fears (there I said it -blech!), I worry about stupid stuff I say, heck, I’m even having trouble putting my thoughts together in this little comment section so it doesn’t sound lame. I Hope to some day get over IT!. Melanie, thanks! Your words are beautiful! You are beautiful!
Melanie Crutchfield
/ August 10, 2012Being vulnerable is HARD. And scary. I do think it’s more scary than hard, though. People aren’t nearly as horrified by us as we imagine them to be.
You’ve GOTTA check out Brené Brown’s work if you haven’t already. She’s amazing. Hit up her TED talks—you won’t regret it. Miss you, Laurie!
Kristen Mae
/ August 1, 2012That IS kind of weird. But I have a crippling fear of Aliens and do this weird wiggly thing with my eyebrows when I’m bored and I think no one’s watching me (it started as facial exercises to prevent wrinkles and went all haywire from there). So what do I know?
Melanie Crutchfield
/ August 2, 2012I’m not 100% sure, but I think that can be fixed with crayon too. Possibly.
Andrea Kelly
/ August 1, 2012I absolutely love this idea! May have to try it at home…
Abby
/ August 1, 2012Or I could just send you a virtual hug, okay? Done and done. I have actually been tagged in the relay but don’t have my post up yet. To be honest, it’s hard, as everyone else’s posts seem very, well…hopeful. Very insightful and sunshine and rainbows. I’m feeling slightly hopeless, or rather–feeling overwhelmed by who I want to be in the world; another day of needing just a little more hope on my side. That’s why I know this “hope” thing will be good for me…when I finish the post.
Rambling aside, my point is you’re challenging me. Damn you. And your ritual isn’t ridiculous. It’s kind of awesome. Anything with crayons usually is
Melanie Crutchfield
/ August 1, 2012Oh, if I could only express the anguish and gnashing of teeth that took place while I wrote my own “hope” post (and I started the damn thing!). I know some other people involved are having a hard time, too. It’s kind of crazy! But, like you said, I think that’s how we know it’s good for all of us.