Looking for Light in a Dark World...What's Keeping You Going?

I'm looking for light, and I'm trying to find ways to take positive actions. In dark times, I look for hope, for love, for creativity. 

My son shared the hope he felt when he saw the large number of young people protesting in the streets of Chicago. He felt hope when he saw many volunteering to clean up after looters broke into the businesses below his apartment in downtown Chicago. I feel hope when I see my daughter-in-law going to work as a reporter each day, despite the coronavirus, and trying her best to talk to knowledgable people and share factual and objective information about the things going on around us. 

I read stories about people who were robbed of their possessions, demeaned, shunned, and sent to concentration camps, many to their deaths, and I read about one girl who survived the camps and set about rebuilding her life and who ultimately goes into a profession where she has helped many people who have had deeply traumatic situations in their own lives. I read about Frances Perkins who witnessed the devastating fire at the Triangle Waist Factory and found her life's work in making the lives of workers better with shorter workweeks, minimum wages, and the establishment of Social Security. I read stories of people who suffered the loss of loved ones, rape, and other terrible actions at the hands of others, and I listened as the people told how they came to forgive others over time for these terrible actions. 

Hope. Creativity. Love. These are the tools I want to use to fight the darkness of our day. 

What is giving you hope now? 

The Choice: Embrace the Possible: A Memoir by Dr. Edith Eva Eger

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

Thanks to Frances Perkins: Fighter for Workers' Rights by Deborah Hopkinson

The Gift of Forgiveness: Inspiring Stories from Those Who Have Overcome the Unforgivable by Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Devotions by Mary Oliver

50 Ways to Draw Your Beautiful Ordinary Life: Practical Lessons in Pencil and Paper

A Bad Birdwatcher's Companion by Simon Barnes

The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter

When I am confused and upset, it is often to children's authors that I look. It's Jason Reynolds I went to this week. Here he and his fellow author Brendan Kiely share ideas on how to speak to kids about racism. There is something here for all of us, I think.

Mister Rogers always gives me hope, too.

                                        

Good Thing #1: We had an outdoor, 6-feet-away visit with my dad and his sweet wife, Rosa, this week. Three and a half hours to talk, and it still wasn't enough. But it was something.

Good Thing #2: We are going to visit with my son and his wife and our two grandkids this weekend. 

Good Thing #3: I made a list of quotes to remember when I start feeling bleak. Here are a couple of my favorites:

I thank you for your posts, your comments, your friendship.

What is keeping you going today?

I'm very happy you found your way to the Sunday Salon. There are no requirements for linking up at Sunday Salon. Sunday Salon is simply a place for us to link up and to share what we have been doing during the week. Sunday Salon is a great way to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

Some of the things we often talk about at the Sunday Salon:

• What was your week like?
• Read any good books? Tell us about them.
• What other bookish things did you do? 
• What else is going on in your life?

Other places where you may like to link up over the weekend are below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

My linkup for Sunday Salon is below.