Hope in Hell

"Just finished your story. Everyone is dead, right?” my beta reader/husband said after finishing my latest work in progress.

“What? No,” I replied, laughing.

“So, it’s just...happy?”

“Yes.”

“This is my wife here. Writing a short story. Somebody must be dead.”

My response to him is quickly becoming my mantra for 2025 onward: “Honestly, the real world is horrifying enough. We’re putting positivity in this bitch.”

If there’s one good thing about the hellish start to 2025, especially as someone who lives and works around Washington, D.C., is that it has given me the motivation to create. I want to put beauty, joy and hope back into this world that is falling more in more into hate, fear and chaos.

It’s important to organize, stay informed, take care of your neighbors, and be active in your community, but it’s also important not to burn yourself out. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Instead of doomscrolling, I’ve been getting the basic news, then turning to books or writing and focusing my anxiety on something productive.

Instead of feeling hopeless and powerless, I’m creating a reprieve for myself and others. If all you’re able to offer currently is your art, that’s enough. If it keeps yourself or someone else going for another day, it’s worth it.

Positive change isn’t going to come from those in power, it’s going to come from everyday folks. A little light in the darkness will go a long way.