What a year 2023 has been by KimB

[Editor's Post}

2023 has been an eventful year for the family and our global family.

The passing of MrsB and the loss felt by all who knew her in life, or knew her from her writings and art works, brings us sorrow. Our sorrow is a reminder of all of the wonderful things she gave us during her lifetime. We mourn for those things that will never come again, but we can rejoice in all that she gave us.

Joy, Happiness and Wonder

A never ending curiosity about the world.

The important things that we keep in our hearts

The global family is also suffering. There are calamities both natural and man made, circling the planet. Some will abate in time, yet worse is to come. The man made suffering is a long term, self-inflicted catastrophe that repeats and repeats and repeats. We seem to be addicted to unnecessary suffering. When we are not miserable enough ourselves, we drag the rest of the global population into our depression, as if having company will mitigate the actions that created it.

There is a capacity for humans to experience hope even in the worst of conditions.

We hope for ...

Whatever we hope for...

Sometimes our hope is for small things that do not really matter within the scope of our lives. Sometimes we hope for big things that will make significant changes in our living situation. We have hopes for others, that their lives will be full of wonder and contentment.

It is our hope that severs us from suffering.

Hope, Suffering and Sorrow are temporary fluctuations in our lives. We know that suffering and sorrow will happen and we build bulwarks against the worst effects with hope. Blocks of hope appear, even when we cannot see or feel them. Hope surrounds us until enough of its aura envelops us, and we can see that hope is everywhere.

Despair cannot exist in the presence of Hope

Hope is not the same thing as Luck. Luck is some external force, sometimes called Randomness, that we invoke as an explanation for things we cannot otherwise account for. It's a factor outside of our control. It's unpredicatable and lacks a defined pattern. It can be either good or bad. It depends on the point of view.

Good Luck occurs when something pleasant happens. Something unexpected but once present is considered a happy event. Since Luck is unpredictable, we imagine that Hope can somehow influence this unpredictable event and we Hope For Good Luck. But Luck does not respond to Hope.

Bad Luck happens when some random, unpredictable event occurs and the outcome is not a happy one. We do many things to avoid Bad Luck but events happen whether we want them or not. But Luck does not respond to Sorrow, Sadness or Despair either.

Hope is not external, it is inside us. We do not have to search the Cosmos for it. It is inside all of us, all the time. It can get buried by sorrow, despair and unhappy events but it is still inside each of us, just waiting for a chance to bubble up again.

Hope is not unrealistic in scope, we know there are limits to the extent of our Hope. The fundamental quality of Hope is internal. It resides in our mind and our feelings. We have control over Hope, and that is not just Luck.

As each of our years pass, we build new hopes. We cherish joy. We celebrate all the happiness of our lives. We marvel at the wonders surrounding us, from the smallest droplet of dew, to the tallest of snow strewn mountains, and to the scampering of scooters as they wait for the walls to warm from the sun's rays.

Is it any Wonder that we have Hope?