Life as we know it is changing by the minute as we are living through a very bizarre time filled with unprecedented events.

A week ago, I was enthusiastically looking forward to spring’s arrival and to making one of my ideas become a reality.

I’m still making progress towards my goal despite the altered reality we are living, and I’m still looking forward to spring.

However, I sit here concerned, confused, and anxious.

I feel like I’m waiting for Thanos to snap his fingers as he dons his infinity gauntlet brimming with stones.

History textbooks are being rewritten by the hour. Earlier this week, I told my students their children will someday learn in school about what we are currently living through. These students are, in fact, the previous generation’s children who have learned about 9-11 in school, an event their parents similarly lived through and experienced.

After the dust settles, what’s going to be left economy-wise? How will this pandemic’s aftermath further alter an already skewed life-as-we-know-it? How will the healthcare system survive? What will our days look like a year from now? A month from now? Will I still be here?

Yesterday, I left my classroom after what might have been the last time I will see my students for a month or more.

As I walked to my car, I looked down and glimpsed three tiny purple flowers blooming in all their glory in the face of and despite the state of our world.

In Star Wars: The Last Jedi, General Leia Organa said, “Hope is like the sun. If you only believe it when you see it you’ll never make it through the night.”

Hope.

I might not see it, but I believe in it with all of my heart and my soul. Especially right now.

Hope.

The message from those tiny purple flowers.

Hope.

It’s what keeping me going as we collectively navigate uncharted waters brimming with hysteria and uncertainty.

Hope.

One word that’s making all the difference to me as one of millions living with underlying medical issues.

 Thanks for joining me on my journey. I’m glad you’re here.

With gratitude,

Jill

“Tiny Purple Flowers of Hope” was posted on jillocone.com and on soulseaker.com on March 14, 2020. Views and opinions expressed in this post are solely those of the writer, who was not compensated in any way by any entity. Copyright 2020, Jill Ocone. All rights reserved. Contact jillocone@gmail.com with reposting, licensing, and publishing inquiries.