The Recovery of Hope Makes Deeper Healing Possible
©2008 Deborah Bier, PhD, Publisher and Co-Editor, Vibration Magazine
"Hope is both the earliest and the most indispensable virtue inherent in the state of being alive. If life is to be sustained hope must remain, even where confidence is wounded, trust impaired." -- Erik Erikson
"Hope is the word which God has written on the brow of every man." -- Victor Hugo
"If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream." -- Martin Luther King
It wasn't until bedtime of the evening that Barak Obama was elected President of the United States of America that I started to realize it: I -- like many others -- had been suffering from a loss of hope.
On that amazing night -- wrung out from tears of amazement, relief and happiness -- I lay in the darkness before sleep came, and felt a stirring inside. It was like the tendril of a small vine reaching upwards toward a light I had not realized had been dimmed: I was daring to feel hope again.
I had not been aware until that moment that I had lost hope, but it was clear that I had. Hope that we as a species could make progress with the many great challenges of our time... that we could live by a value system that had greater goals than mere greed for money and power... that we could hold compassion and honesty closer to our cultural bosom... that we could create social change that would heal rifts between individuals, nations and tribes. I realized that the best I had come to manage was to weakly hope against hope for these things, rather than maintaining hope as a clear, vibrant and ringing note.
By most accounts, I would be considered to be a highly optimistic person. Exactly where and when the light of hope had begun to dim inside me during the previous eight years was uncertain, but clearly it was during the current administration that it had slowly eroded, rather than being wounded through some single, killing blow. Distrust upon distrust mounted until, as both Erikson and King point out in the quotes above, it impinged upon the very ability to maintain a vibrant lifeforce. It felt as if my spirit as a human was crushed as I helplessly watched our government live up to our hopeless expectations.
I had on some level shut down my hopeful heart, and came to dare not hope too much, lest I become dashed by disappointment each time another blow against hope was struck. But on that magical night, I felt the kind of hope begin to grow that allows humans -- regardless of political orientation or choice in the voting booth -- to bring new energy, new life, and the light to heal some of the oldest of wounds. Did you feel it, too?
We are already expecting a lot from Mr. Obama's upcoming administration. Can he deliver? Probably not -- we're probably expecting the man to at the very least repeat the miracle of the loaves and fishes in his first 100 days in office. That's a pretty tall order, likely not to be filled.
But will we allow our hopes to be crushed again as a result? Well, I most certainly hope not! Because healing, nurturing, and cultivating our sense of hope is something we are responsible for, both individually and collectively.
Below are some flower essences to help you plant and grow your garden of hope.
Angelica (FES): trusting in the angelic realms, higher guidance
Borage (FES): Cheerful courage, faith, when visited by discouragement and
heavy-heartedness
Coradylis (Whole Energy Essences): Recover trust after it has been lost
Fireweed (Many): Start anew, fresh energy
Mountain Pride (FES): Fear of the adverse forces of our time; becoming a positive spiritual warrior
Orange (Master's): Renewed interested in life, renewed energy
Scotch Broom (FES): Feelings of overwhelm and burden, especially impending doom or discouragement about the world
Sunshine Wattle (Australian): Optimism
Tomato (Many): Courage to go on
Penstemon (FES): To persevere when discouraged
Waratah (Australian): Tenacity, faith, survival
May we all see the infinite power of hope -- our Divine inheritance -- blossom again for many years to come. We will create our future from the hopes we hold; as Lin Yutang, Chinese writer and inventor said, "Hope is like a road in the country; there was never a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Deborah Bier, Ph.D., is a holistic healthcare practitioner in private practice in Concord, MA. This is an excerpt from her newly published book/ebook Flower Essence Practice: For Students, Essence Practitioners & Other Healing
Professionals (Windfall, 2008). She is also the author of Healthy Connections: Flower Essences for Better Family, Friend and Work Relationships; The Encyclopedia of Vibrational Essences, and Learning About Vibrational Essences (find all these titles here). She is the maker of Whole Energy Essences, and Publisher/Co-Editor of this ezine. She is available for private consultations. Read more of her work in Vibration Magazine here.
ART CREDITS: Page designed by Windfall. Images courtesy of Clipart.com.
The World Wide Essence Society does not mean to imply any recommendation of nor give certification to any individuals or companies above. This article is provided purely for informational purposes. We ask consumers to make their own determination as to quality of the services and products offered above. This article is not meant to be advice, and the information is not meant to replace medical or psychological treatment.
