A Hopeful New Year
This year, in May-June, we drove from Adelaide to Melbourne, to Bega, to Canberra, to Jindabyne, to Lakes Entrance, to Healesville, to Lake Boga/Swan Hill, to Adelaide – moving through 3 states. It was one of the best roadtrips ever, especially the day we drove down from Jindabyne, through incredible country, covering sparkly snow topped mountains, granite boulders rising from the earth, healthy farmland, rushing rivers, lush rainforest, to the deep blue sea. Now, these areas are burning, and our minds and hearts are filled with thoughts of these incredible places of beauty, and the animals and people who call them home.
A new year isn’t about being MORE, of anything. It doesn’t mean throwing out the old. It can’t take away all of the experiences of the years that came before. It won’t predict the future. There’s no need to go shopping for new things, or make resolutions you probably can’t keep.
A new year is a moment we created, based on our revolution around the sun. Each day within these revolutions matters. Each day brings a multitude of experiences – some better than others. Some have privelged lives, some face insurmountable obstacles, barriers and tragedies. All of us walk alongside each other with the same beating hearts, pumping blood through our veins. All of us have an opportunity to be decent human beings.
If you make any resolutions as we walk together into 2020, make it this – that no matter what, you can wake each day, with a piece of hope within your heart for better times; that you choose kindness, even when you are up against it; that when you ache with sorrow, there’s someone there to hold you; and, that you can muster the strength to offer your hand to another. Let’s make 2020 the year where the world turns towards kindness and hope, for all of our sakes.
In current times, I am not saying ‘Happy’ New Year. I went to bed at 9.30pm last night, holding my aching heart in my hands. I woke before the burning sun, on this first day of 2020, seeking my usual dress of hope and optimism. Amongst the horror, I found it in the helpers, the brave hearts, the ones who reach out their hands and open their arms. I found it in the people who understand the delicate miracle of our lives, who refuse to believe the earth belongs to us, because, we belong to her. It is not our right to take all and everything we want.
It is our privilege to walk through our lives. So, on this first day of 2020, I am saying ‘Hopeful New Year’ – hope for survival, for recovery, for rain, for leadership, for kindness, for change, for love, for our children’s futures ❤
Helen x
(This post is a combination of a series of social media posts that I wrote across the Christmas/New Year period, which resonated with thousands of people. I hope it also connects with you x)