Finding Light and a Gift

Beyond Beyond ~ Challenge Five

This weeks challenge was to find the best light in our homes and use a radial gradient to create additional light in an image. We have a lovely south facing window which is perfect, but I need to find a way to create some portable space to set up on. This week I used a padded chair covered with linen and adding the gradient worked well to create more light to the top of the bow and side of the box. 

It was suggested in an earlier tutorial that we choose a word for the year...one that would guide and direct us. There is a Papyrus store close by and when I was there with my daughter and mother in November, I saw a display of handmade pendents with a single word printed on paper soldered between two pieces of glass.  I stopped by there two weeks ago and, lo and behold, I found the single word I was looking for. As the young man behind the counter began to wrap it up, I told him that the necklace was for me and he needn't waste the little box. He said, "then it's a gift for you and it must be beautifully wrapped." His sweet words and gesture gladdened my heart and I'll never forget him. 

The box sat unopened for many days...maybe a week or more. I hesitated removing the ribbon from the box as I thought...maybe..."Hope" isn't an action word. Would this word inspire me and move me to action in the upcoming days. I went to the dictionary!

hope
noun

1. a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen
    a person or thing that may help or save someone
    grounds for believing that something good may happen
2. feeling of trust

verb

want something to happen or be the case

PHRASES

hope against hope ~ cling to a mere possibility
hope for the best ~ hope for a favorable outcome
hope springs eternal ~ it is human nature to always find fresh cause for optimism

I've decided this is the right word for me right now. I may not need this word for the whole year, but I need it today. I need days filled with optimism and the belief that something good is going to happen. I want to trust I'm on the straight path...on course and on target to fulfill my destiny. I believe the universe will send me a new and meaningful watchword when I am prepared to receive it. For now, I'll embrace "hope" and accept it as a gift. A gift I've given myself.