Sometimes We March

LUCY BURDETTE: Always, always, we are thinking of writing and books and food and friends and family--including you, our beloved readers. But sometimes we have to take a day off to express our feelings about democracy and our hopes for our country. And so we march. 

We march for our daughters and our granddaughters and our mothers and our sisters at heart--and our brothers and fathers and husbands, too. We march for our earth, our wild places and animals. We march for those who don't look like us but are part of our one human family. We march because our diversity is one of our country's greatest strengths. We march because we are ever hopeful that love will always trump hate. 

From Julia in Maine...

Hallie reporting from the Boston common...

Susan Hubbard in New York City...

Jenn McKinlay in Phoenix...

Lucy Burdette in Key West...

Ingrid in Seattle...

Lucy's niece in LA (crowd of 200,000)...

Hallie's daughters in DC...

...where you could also find Julia's husband Ross and The Smithie.

Lucy's sister Susan Cerulean with her husband Dr. Jeff Chanton in Tallahassee...

PS. We marched for all of you! xoxox The Jungle Red Writers and friends

And a few late entries from our friends...

Edith Maxwell in Boston...

Dana Cameron in DC...

Sandy and Sandy in DC...

Maribeth in Hartford...

On Hope

Flamingo feather from La Camargue, France

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -
    *Emily Dickenson

 

LUCY BURDETTE: One of the remarkable things we saw on our vacation last month were these locks, attached to two bridges that cross the Seine River in Paris. The legend goes that lovers write their names on the lock (or sometimes make another kind of wish), then snap them onto the fence along the bridge and throw away the key. 

    Which reminded me of seeing Yoko Ono’s Wish Tree project in the sculpture garden of the Museum of Modern Art in New York several years ago. Here were the instructions: “Make a wish. Write it down on a piece of paper. Fold it and tie it around a branch of the wish tree. Ask your friend to do the same. Keep wishing.”

    We did not add a lock to the bridge, but I definitely added a paper to the wishing tree. And I say prayers when I remember. And I cross my fingers and knock wood when I need to.

    



Last week, I came across another interesting article in one of my professional psychology magazines. The subject was research on hopefulness, as distinguished from optimism (a general feeling that good things will happen) and wishing. “Hope is different because it has to do with facing reality,” says Jon G. Allen, PhD, a senior staff psychologist at The Menninger Clinic. “As I see it, hope is motivation to stay in the game.” He went on to explain the three important components of hope: optimism, social support, and setting goals. 


    
I think I’m a pretty hopeful person, though realistic too. I hope like heck my next book will make it to the New York Times bestseller list (right after Julia’s!), but I’m not sitting around waiting for it to happen. And I’m thinking of a plan in case it doesn’t...But most important of all, I’ve surrounded myself with positive, supportive people--starting with the Jungle Reds!

    How about you guys? Hopeful? Any special tips for keeping that state of mind going?

And PS, after writing this, I heard the news about the disaster in the Philippines. Those folks really need some hope right now. Here are a few places where you can donate money and feel confident that it will get where it's needed: the United Church of Christ, the Red Cross,  Doctors without Borders.