Hope Notes: Unconditional
My Grandma died this past December at age 96. She had a great run overall, but a very tough and confusing end to her life. We miss her terribly.
She wanted me to write for you. Neither of us knew it would take this form, but she always encouraged me, because she always believed in me.
Grandma taught our family what it means to love, and be loved, unconditionally.
Hope and unconditional love come from the same place. Both involve a choice to believe in potential, even when present reality looks pretty rough.
Grandma’s love for us had a “you can’t talk me out of it” quality. She knew that we were imperfect, saw our mistakes and our lapses, and kept on loving anyway.
The biggest thing I learned from her, the hardest thing to practice, is not to love or to hope in the first place. Rather, the hard thing is accepting:
That things will be better again;
That you are already good right now, as you are;
That you are worthy of being loved completely.
If you want your hope to work properly, you have to start paying attention to unconditional love in your life. It can come from dogs, kids, neighbors, a favorite teacher, that aunt who always remembers your birthday.
Consider this a treasure hunt: Find that love where it exists. Get to work on accepting it fully. And if there isn’t anywhere in your life where you feel loved like that, Grandma will be happy to lend you some for now.
Road to Recovery
As of yesterday, there are at least 318,068 people worldwide who have tested positive for COVID-19 and have fully recovered. This is an increase of 124,891 since our last edition - the first time in Hope Notes history that the increase itself is more than 100,000 people. The number of known recovered cases is now larger than the entire population of Pittsburgh. An unknown number more have encountered the virus on their own and made a full recovery.
We hope for strength in those who are actively suffering right now, and in the healthcare workers giving vital care and figuring out how to treat people faster and with less suffering. We hope as well for peace in the lives of everyone who has lost a loved one or friend in the midst of this crisis. And we hope for patience in everyone who is staying home right now to help relieve the strain of this outbreak on society.
Good Moves
How people are practicing generosity, ingenuity, and love around us right now.
Alone Together
Sources of community during social distancing.
I’ve been told many times that Matthew McConaughey is dreamy, and also that he and I are definitely not leading parallel lives, and is it warm in here or is that just me? Anyway, America’s favorite bongo player ran a virtual bingo night this week:
This week I said to my wife that it feels like we’re living in the world of Little House on the Prairie, only with cell phones. Right on time, here comes the return of pen pals.
Continuing with that theme of old timey pleasures, the embroidery world is welcoming all of us with open arms, offering the much-needed opportunity, to, well….
And Finally…
Politicians around the world have done some great outreach to children during this crisis. But this heartfelt message from New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, turns kids’ worries about the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy toward something wonderful:
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Take care.
- Michael
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