In the stillness of the quiet, if we listen, we can hear the whisper of the heart giving strength to weakness, courage to fear, hope to despair.
~ Howard Thurman

I have almost run out of things to clean and organize in my house; the attic is clean, the basement is clean, all the drawers are clean.

In all my cleaning out, I did find a few rolls of film that got tucked away and started scanning those. I am not sure if the memories of going out into the world brought me to hope or despair. Most likely a little a both. As I scanned this roll of hot air balloons, taken on my Hasselblad on Kodak Portra 400 back in July of 2019, hope started to win over my despair. I don’t know if it was the idea of looking up or that I could find such a lovely roll of film from over a year ago… but a bit of happiness and optimism sprang up in me.

It reminded me of this poem from Steven Charleston.

Come stand over here,
just a step or two beyond the place you have occupied for so long,
where you have worn the earth smooth with your pacing,
where you have spent so many hours fighting the problem you cannot seem to solve.
Take a break.
Catch your breath.
Come stand here, where you can catch a freshening breeze and
see far into the valley below.
Let the distant clouds carry your worry for a while,
see how the sun empties the world of shadow.
The answer you seek may be just a step beyond,
a higher place where the view is clear of all obstructions.
—Steven Charleston

I may have taken just a few steps from where I was, but it did help me take a life-giving breath.

~Staci Lee