Hope is the Light in Our Dark

by Kathleen (Kat) O’Keefe-Kanavos

Hero’s Journey stories have always been the way essential lessons are taught and remembered.

Mayhem bombards us daily, but we seldom hear about the miracles that happen despite or because of the chaos. The miraculous happy endings reassure us and remind us that the good guy still wins and can ride off into the sunset on a white horse. The trick is to see, embrace and give thanks for our miracles. Mayhem is all a part of our unforgettable Hero’s Journey of Life.

In high school, I sang in the school chorus. One of my favorite songs was the Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II hit “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” which was later sung by many crooners, including Gerry and the Pacemakers and Elvis Presley. The lyrics that resonated with me most are:

Walk on through the wind,

Walk on through the rain,

Though your dreams be tossed and blown.

Walk on, walk on,

With hope in your heart,

And you’ll never walk alone.

So often, we feel alone in our times of need. We are sure no one else experienced what we are feeling, so there is no hope for help. Suddenly reading or hearing that someone else went through a similar life challenge and survived the devastation can help us continue one more day.

Sharing our Hero’s Journey helps us all become closer and stronger.

In a speech, Winston Churchill said, “If you’re going through hell, keep going,” and then discussed the “lion heart” of people. It would be safe to say that almost everyone, at some point in their life, goes through some form of hell, including me — but the ones who survive, and thrived did not give up, they kept going. They embraced their lion’s heart and followed the hope that led them forward on their Hero’s Journey until they came out the other side.

The dark hour of our soul is the fertile ground for our miracles. Without one, the other could not exist.