During my Summer travels I came accross a project to leave stones around a local village with messages of hope and love written on them.
I found it so inspiring that you could just pick up the stone and hold on to it, taking in the message, then placing it somewhere else for others to find.
If only hope was really so easy to find.
When they come in to therapy many clients have lost their ability to hope and feel mired in sadness and loss.
After such a difficult few years when our hopes have been dashed over and over again because of covid and now the financial stresses, it’s been a difficult time to feel hope.
In therapy we often hold the hope for our clients, when they have none.
My old supervisor used to say it was like holding a candle in the dark. When our clients are ready we hand the candle back to them. This is an image of hope I hold close and often reflect on.
Entering therapy is a very hopeful thing to do, it means we believe we don’t have to suffer and could live another way.
By grasping at glimmers of hope, we learn to look again at ourselves with love and compassion, to believe in better for ourselves.
So look for hope in small ways; the kindness of a stranger, a great chat with a friend, hug from your child, a delicious meal with a loved one.
It is there if we look but we need to tune in to see it and open our hearts to it.
I hope you find some hope this month. With every passing day Autumn is on its way and with it, hopefully, better times to come and some rain!
I have included my new hope meditation below, take a listen to help you connect to your inner hope!