What gives you hope and makes you stronger?...

Painting up the next book/s during the lockdown

For all of the tragedy that this pandemic has brought about to the world in hundreds of thousands of lost lives, for those who have the luxury of being able to stay in bubbles, it has also given us the luxury of time to consider not only what's important but why it's important.

For me, the restriction of staying within my family bubble has given me the time to reflect on how our time here on earth is fleeting, and for many, this has grossly been affected by this deadly virus that takes, kills and destroys in its wake.

Especially the elderly, the physically vulnerable and those who are disadvantaged in having to work, live or are close to those who are already sick with the virus.

But within my faith base, I'm reminded of the old adage of "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" and that when we put our faith and trust in God, in something bigger than ourselves then our hope is not futile, no matter what the outcome.

So during this time I've been able to write, reflect, paint, and consider the legacy that I would like to leave behind. To be able to utilize the gifts and talents that I've been gifted with, in this life, to leave something meaningful that others might learn from in my writings and paintings.

I think of my late maternal great-grandfather, whom I never met but learned that he died in the 1918 influenza epidemic in Samoa. In writing and launching his story in a picture book last year (lest we forget) who was to know that I too would be in a time and place where a world pandemic would occur as similar to what occurred in his, and he later died from, in his lifetime.

It makes me smile to hear our youngest say that when she has grandchildren or great-grandchildren, that she would be able to share what it was like for her to live at the time and the emotions she felt. That is what hope is about in living beyond the fear and uncertainty around us.

That there is hope for another day and that although some precious lives have been lost, that all is not lost when we pray for strength for those families tragically affected. For when we hope and pray for another day then live like it matters then that makes others strong too...