by ANGELA KNIERIEM || If you are watching the news, listening to the radio, scrolling Facebook, or reading the newspaper, you know we are being inundated with bad news and grim predictions. Even for those of us who are generally hopeful and positive, this is a hard time to hold on to hope.
As a daughter of the Lowcountry, there is one thing I have always relied on to bring back my hope and that’s to look for the good. I was a child living in Charleston when Hugo ravaged our coast. I remember walking out of my home with my family the next morning and taking in the devastation. It seemed like every tree in our neighborhood had fallen and there was debris everywhere. Even now so many years later that image stays in my mind. But more that image, I remember school being out and having picnics with my family in our living room. I remember my dad joining with others in our neighborhood walking around with chain saws going from house to house to help with downed trees. I remember people delivering food and water to each other. I remember a community that came together to support one another.
I saw the good in people.
Over the last several years, I have watched this scene play out again and again as we faced hurricane after hurricane. Each time, the good I saw around me far outweighed the bad. In our Lowcountry home, southern hospitality is alive and well and something about hard times just makes that come out more and more.
Today, as I sat on my back porch going through emails and working on administrative duties, I started to hear lots of horns honking. The dogs went crazy and so I naturally went to see what was happening. Right outside my house was a small group of children with their mothers waving posters. One-by-one honking cars passed by full of their teachers. The cars were decorated with encouraging posters and balloons. There was music playing and the kids were dancing. The car parade would slow down when one of the kid’s actual teachers passed and I got a front row seat to watching kid’s faces light up with recognition and joy.
I have to admit I cried. Tears of joy and of sadness and overwhelming hope. I cried because right before me was the good.
I know this time is hard. I know that we face financial hardship, medical fears, increased feelings of isolation, and loss of hope. But I encourage you when you feel overwhelmed, look for the good. You will see it all around – in teachers parading through neighborhoods, in people who are spending their days sewing masks, in neighbors checking in on those around them who need groceries, in a smile from a stranger you pass at the store, in a community that shows its best in the worst of circumstances.
Look for the good, my friends, and in that you will find a little bit of hope to get you through your day.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
(Via: Provided)
Angela Knieriem is a Lowcountry native who has been with Hopeful Horizons for the last four years. Prior to working in mental health, she was a middle school English teacher and guidance counselor. She began working at Hopeful Horizons in 2016, first as a therapist and then as clinical services director. Angela is passionate about working with trauma survivors, mentoring new therapists, and rescuing animals. She and her husband live on Lady’s Island and are parents to two cats and four dogs – one which is Hopeful Horizons’ facility dog, Adobe!
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