Sadly, our ash trees at the cottage are infected with the ash borer. The insects destroy the trees. Most of the trees in our backyard out there were ash. Watching the trees die, one after another broke my heart. We have a few more that are too close to the cottage and will have to come down this summer. But nature is optimistic. I was out working at the cottage yesterday and as I walked through the woods, I noticed a ton of new maples sprouting up. Nature is optimistic. The woods will adapt. I like the lesson in that. Crap happens. We can moan, or we can pick ourselves up and optimistically begin looking for something new.
I didn't snap a picture, but our Gettysburg Oak (my FIL started it from a Gettysburg acorn) that was struck by lightening a few years back is coming back. It's got to be about ten feet high now. I like that despite its injury, it believed in itself and came back. It found its inner-optimism.
I try to write characters who are optimistic. Even when they go through something awful and can't see it, they have some small kernel of optimism. It might be buried deeply, but it finds its way to the surface. Books like Just One Thing, or These Three Words (it's on sale for $.99 right now) I think portray that.
Optimism is there in my comedies, too. In The Makeover, the heroine remains upbeat and optimistic (okay, sometimes it's a bit buried) despite a town secret, a bad makeover, a lovelorn bull...and a grumpy visiting reporter.
Optimism. It's part of my daily glee. I find that glee in small things which helps me believe that good things will happen, even if they're just a small thing. A hot cup of coffee, baby maple trees in the woods, a book that touches my heart. I try to encourage my characters to believe that as well! Even when bad things happen and I can't quite feel optimistic, I fake it until it becomes reality. LOL
I feel optimistic we'll all have a good, gleeful day!
Holly
PPS. Check out my books!
 |
| Briar Hill Road |
 |
| Between the Words |
No comments:
Post a Comment