Hold onto hope

Hold onto it even when the challenges of life start to unravel your inner light.

I suffered a lot through my 20s from life challenges that I felt ill-equipped to handle, lacking the emotional tools to navigate them gracefully.

Through it all the only thing that kept me going was the dream of becoming a full time artist.

The act of creating and experiencing beauty served as my beacon of hope, the singular force that made all my struggles worthwhile

It is easy to fall into the trap of suffering at the hands of cynicism.

It’s much easier to believe that things won't get better because it doesn't take any courage, while it takes a tremendous amount of courage to hold onto hope in the face of darkness.

The darker aspects of humanity are often all too visible, making it difficult to ignore our inherent faults.

Regardless of when you come across these words, whether reading or listening, there's likely a terrible event unfolding at this very moment.

Yet, this shouldn't be a reason to lose hope. I believe we owe it to ourselves, and to the ancestors who have given so much for us, to strive for improvement and to foster belief in a brighter future.

I look at all the inventions around me, from the simplicity of a fork that makes eating easier to the vastness of the internet that has allowed me to connect to the most beautiful people and share ideas, it's hard to remain cynical amidst such beauty.

I would be spitting on the graves of the humans who have come before if I look at how far we have come and pretend that it is all darkness.

A hope for a better future is the ultimate privilege and it is one we can choose, it's one we can grab hold of and never let go.

There's a motivation to concentrate on humanity's darker side, as it helps us excuse our own negative behaviors. It's easier to dismiss our faults if we assume everyone else is more flawed.

My conclusion is that it's a matter of choice: mastering our challenging emotions is a learnable skill. And, most importantly, it's a skill worth learning.

Over the past year I have been speaking to a therapist and it has helped me in ways that I could not have anticipated. I have found that most of the hatred within myself only comes from a place of pain and fear.

By making space for these tough emotions, I've significantly brightened my worldview. It's as if I've polished the lens through which I see the world

Will you confront the shadows within your soul, or allow them to overtake you and those dear to you?