Day 48 - Aiyana Bellegarde

Living A Life With Hope By

Hope is an optimistic state of mind ingrained in everything we feel. Whether it’s subconscious or intentional, we continually hope. We hope for a better tomorrow, we hope for the flowers to blossom in the spring, we hope—for it's fundamental to who we are. Provided, there should be no reason to hope, because we already have other emotions to fill that spot—curiosity, desire, ambition—yet, hope is universal, a boundless force made to wrap around you and others. With all the troubles surrounding us, we rely on hope because hope is not always about individuality; it can also be about belonging and community. 

The word "hope" comes from the Old English dictionary, meaning to wish for or desire something. When writing, we use hope as a mood or tone to engage the reader when expressing tragic circumstances. Hope keeps the reader wanting more, or in this case, hoping for more. We rely on hope when writing a story that has a dark side to it, making sure stories have hope ensures that the readers will also have hope. Hope also encourages you to seek those good endings, and not only does it encourage, but it sets expectations for our future and what we desire to be in the future. 

Hope can be a collective emotion, not just individuality. It’s an emotion that gives you a sense of belonging that is much more vital than one that separates you from others. We all work together to hope, especially during these past few years. Our society has been rapidly deteriorating, from wars to climate change to political issues that divide every single one of us. But even through all of the tragedies, hope still blossoms in everyone. The hope for a better tomorrow, the hope that maybe it will all end, the hope that even though life isn’t going right, you're still taking every step forward to make the best of it. Hope thrives on unfortunate circumstances because when life gives you lemons, make lemonade, the kind that isn’t too sweet but still has that bitter tang to it, because that's what life is about: making the unexpected, expected. 

​Aiyana Bellegarde, Little Black Bear First Nation