“Hope is being able to see that there is a light despite the darkness.”

I had a little trouble picking this month’s word, but I quite like the word that has popped into my head today.

Hope. Hope because it springs eternal. Hope because it never dies, only alights in our hearts despite the circumstances we all live through. Hope because, like the Spring that is appearing all around us, we know there’s a light at the end of this tunnel.

I feel like we have been living in a tunnel. Dark and dismal, filled with fear and uncertainty, travelling along a blackened road not seeing the end but carrying on regardless, hoping – hoping for that light, the end of all of this.

Now the light is appearing, the spring has returned (certainly in the Northern Hemisphere), and there is hope again. Hope that the virus and the times we are living in will finally end. Or at least we’ll get back to some semblance of normal.

Today, schools are back in session, and I am sure many parents out there are feeling a weight lifted. I’m no parent, but I can imagine the stresses they’ve been under. Not only working themselves, but trying to get their children to learn too. All have been under anxieties and worries, but yes. There’s hope there now.

I’ve been having a challenging time of late. I was living through seriously anxious times a few months back, but now I’m much better. However, the last few months I’ve been wondering where my future lies and so I applied to train as a teacher. I had interviews to prep for, to take, and hear the results from. I’m still waiting on one more choice to get back to me, but I’m not sure it’ll happen after the first two were unsuccessful at interview stage. It was an idea that many people have suggested to me, and I love working with children – have volunteered for a fair few years in the past at schools and with Brownies, so perhaps I thought – why not? I love to share knowledge and ideas, and what better way to do that than as a teacher?

Perhaps it’s not to be. That’s ok. I’ll keep on trying new things, trying new ideas. I think that’s all you can do. Try and hope and imagine. 

So I implore you – this month, and for a long time to come afterwards… Hope. Hope that your endeavours work out the way they’re meant to. Hope for an end to the limbo period of being stuck at home, away from friends and family. Hope that the Spring will appear, shining bright and colourful all around us.

Because everything ends. All the struggles, all the tough times, all the challenges. They all come to a conclusion and we find ourselves stronger and wiser because of them.

Kate @ Kandid Chronicles

Listening to: “Who Cares” by Carly Bannister, Ben Bannister