It's Advent — a season of hope — so I thought a little Emily Dickinson was in order. The photo is of an ornament that my dear friend Danae gave me a couple of Decembers ago. It seems like both yesterday and a thousand years ago that my parents were so sick with Covid. There was so much going on, so many medical questions, decisions to be made every day. Danae brought me a Care package one afternoon and this ornament was in it. Every time I look at it (Hope! The cardinal!)I remember feeling both alone and very loved and surrounded during that time.
The felt ornament to the right is one I've had for years. That one was a gift from my friend Jenn. We've never met in person but we connected online in what seems like another era: the early days of blogging, when lots of us blogging moms somehow made the time to both blog and visit other blogs. One year, a handful of us did a Christmas ornament exchange. I was the lucky recipient of Jenn's beautiful hand-embroidered work. A coffee cup, no less! She gets me! Jenn and I are still in touch and my Jenn Coffee Cup always gives me hope, too — the internet may be a cesspool, but it has brought me people from across the country, across the ocean, and across time and space. It's TARDIS-y that way and has always delivered traveling companions of the highest caliber into my life.
(Poetry Friday, anyone? Another beautiful example of connections and friendships I cherish. Carry on, internet! Keep connecting me with the highest caliber. I'm forever grateful.)
The quote is from a Mary Englebreit page-a-day calendar (gorgeous illustration) that Atticus and the girls gave me. I found this page torn off the calendar and left on my desk. ❤️ I'd have to blog for days to cover all the ways that Atticus and Anne-with-an-e, Betsy Ray, and Ramona have given me hope over the years. Endless, bottomless hope and courage.
What's giving you hope this season?
“Hope” is the thing with feathers
by Emily Dickinson
“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -
And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -
I’ve heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.
16 comments:
What a hopeful, thankful post, Karen. I think the internet has its cesspool parts, but it's mostly a reflection of humankind--some cesspool, some astonishing kindness and support and connection. It's just easier to accidentally run into the cesspool parts online. Thanks for sharing Emily's poem, but also these ornaments that give you hope and remind you of how loved you are!
What lovely ornaments! I agree about the internet having both its good and bad aspects. Best part: the wonderful blogs and bloggers I've "met" over the years. Still cherish your poem "Sustenance" and Atticus's French Bread recipe that you shared for my Poetry Potluck twelve years ago!!!
https://jamarattigan.com/2010/04/06/the-shockingly-clever-guest-karen-edmisten/
Good things like these restore my hope in humanity. :)
Happy Holidays!!!
xo
Wishing you a blessed, hope-filled Advent, Karen🙏🏽🕊❣️.... ah, the glory days of blogging ...! I started mine in April 2006 ... there was much good in those early years of the homeschool-mother-writing blogfest. It was a different world!! ... Smart phones and social media have altered our society and culture in profound ways ...
So glad you are still here, writing and sharing🤗
Thank you for the lovely, hopeful post, Karen! I am having a hard time letting go of Twitter, even though I know its new owner is trying to cesspool-ize it. The Internet is a real mixed bag, but there are some parts I love, like Poetry Friday!
Thank goodness for friends--those who show up face to face and online. What a beautiful post. And, how Dickinson's poem resonates with us now. A true example of a classic.
Laura, Jama, Penelope, Tabatha, Linda: you are examples of the riches I treasure! :D My sisters in poetry. ❤️
Laura, I think you're right about the representation of humanity online. There's truly so much good out there.
Jama, your Poetry Potluck! I hope you are still enjoying Atticus's recipe. Happy holidays to you, too!
Penelope, how long has it been? We've been connected so long I can't even remember. What a gift.
Tabatha, I'm still over at Twitter too (not that I ever Tweet much) but only because there are good people like you still hanging on. Islands of goodness.
Linda, thanks for joining in on my appreciation for this classic, and my appreciation for online friends — like you! — who make my life brighter and better.
I, too, agree about the friendships made all through the years through my blogging. I've met some in person and that was wonderful, but it's words from everyone, like yours this time, Karen, that fill me up during all the stressful and troubled times. What loving memories you have in those ornaments. And Emily D., no matter how many ways we read her poem, it uplifts. Thank you. Wishing you a special holiday with your family.
Beautiful, Karen. Emily D. is perfect for this bright Saturday morning here in CT.
Linda and Susan, we go way back, too, don't we? :D Oh, I'm so grateful for both of you! ❤️
Hope comes in many packages and brings us the sustenance we need to go on. Thank you for sharing the poem, your gifts, and your words. Memories of Christmas past fills my heart with hope while I decorate, Karen. Happy holidays to you.
I don't know about things with feathers, but Vaclav Havel says "Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something is worth doing no matter how it turns out." -- Anytime I see the word "hope" - my heart swells, because hope is hard to hold on to. But those ornaments, especially the coffee mug - would help me, too.
Poetry Friday gives me hope, for lots of the reasons you list in this post -- a feeling of connectedness to people I mostly have never met in real life, but with whom I enjoy spending time and sharing ideas and poems!
Love your Hope filled post Karen, and Emily Dickinson's poem– Poetry Friday fills me with hope and I always look forward to it, thanks!
That is one of my favorite Emily Dickinson poems, and one I turn to often in times of stress. Beloved ornaments can evoke so many emotions! They bring joy and hope to me, too. thank you for sharing.
Carol, all the same beautiful holiday wishes back to you!
Patricia, I love that quote, so true and right.
Mary Lee, yes, and you are one of those people. We go waaaaay back together. :) ❤️
Michelle, I agree about the way Poetry Friday fills me with hope!
Rose, so happy I shared one of your favorites! I love this one, too.
This is one of the few poems I know by heart and it always brings comfort. Your post speaks to the way that small gifts or words from a friend can be a balm during hard times.
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