{"id":111,"date":"2016-10-04T19:04:23","date_gmt":"2016-10-05T01:04:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.iamhalfhope.com\/content\/?p=111"},"modified":"2025-12-11T22:28:45","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T05:28:45","slug":"reminders-of-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.iamhalfhope.com\/content\/2016\/10\/04\/reminders-of-hope\/","title":{"rendered":"Reminders of Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to Emily Dickenson, <\/span><\/p>\n

Hope is the thing with feathers –<\/span><\/p>\n

That perches in the soul –<\/span><\/p>\n

And sings the tune without the words – <\/span><\/p>\n

And never stops – at all –<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Click here <\/a>for the full poem.)<\/p>\n

I think the thought of this is lovely. So lovely that I lettered it recently and originally posted it on my other blog. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

But as I lettered it, I wondered\u2026 what happens if it does stop singing? What then?<\/span><\/p>\n

After my ecoptic pregnancy, my \u201cthing with feathers\u201d stopped singing\u2026 or at the very least it sang so quietly that I couldn\u2019t hear it anymore in the midst of all of my pain. It was a dark time. But I knew I needed to remain hopeful. I knew I needed hope to keep singing in my soul. As my mom has reminded me several times this since June, \u201chope is vital to our will to survive.\u201d She\u2019s right\u2026 But knowing I need it is different than actually harnessing the hope, so in an attempt to build back some hope, I have been collecting things to visually remind me to be hopeful. And to me being hopeful isn\u2019t just having hope that I\u2019ll get pregnant and have a baby — please read my <\/span>survival post<\/a> or my <\/span>introduction <\/b><\/a>to see my thoughts on that — more importantly, I am hopeful that regardless of what happens to us, Matt and I will survive this and be happy. <\/span><\/p>\n

The first thing I found for my collection of hope was at a gift shop shortly after I was treated for my ectopic pregnancy. At that time I wasn\u2019t even looking for hope. I like to think it found me. There it was, an unusual and beautiful necklace with matching earrings hanging on a jewelry display. Waiting. It spoke to me, and I responded by purchasing it. I have worn my hope necklace many, many, many times since. I\u2019ve worn it to nearly every doctor\u2019s appointment since. I wear it to work, and on the weekends. I even wear it with my comfy clothes. It\u2019s comforting to me. And I think it may be comforting to other people too — many people have commented on it when I\u2019m out and about… maybe it\u2019s reminding them to be hopeful in their lives too.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"source:<\/a>
source: http:\/\/www.trishawaldrondesigns.com\/product\/is101-hope-set\/<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ever since I found my hope necklace I have been collecting reminders of hope, and it has been a positive experience for me. The things I have found have helped me to think about hope in different ways and what hope means to me. The searching process has also been almost like an alternative form of affirmation practice for me — while I look in stores and online for reminders that speak to me, I\u2019m thinking of hope over and over while I search. \u00a0(How\u2019s that for an excuse to go shopping or scroll down, down, down on pinterest?!)<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the early digital reminders I found that really resonated with me was the saying \u201cHold On Pain Ends\u201d. It has been a good reminder that regardless of what happens, I know I won\u2019t be in the middle of my infertility forever. At some point it will be resolved in some way. I will never be the same again, but the wound won\u2019t be open and raw for ever. At some point I can start to make some peace with what has happened and some of the pain will subside.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"source:<\/a>
source: http:\/\/quotesgram.com\/hope-quotes-and-sayings\/<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I found some quotes that spoke to me and I lettered a few:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I saved some more quotes on pinterest that I haven’t lettered. Here are a\u00a0few of them:<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>
source: www.pinterest.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"source:<\/a>
source: www.pinterest.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"source:<\/a>
source: \u00a0www.pinterest.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And recently my mom sent me a charm for my Origami Owl locket. I had been looking for one for weeks, and as soon as I told her what I was looking for she took it upon herself to find the perfect one and surprised me with a card in the mail. Thanks, Mom.<\/p>\n

\"img_20160927_173702\"<\/p>\n

I won\u2019t say that these reminders have completely cured me of my hopelessness, but I will say that they have helped. Sometimes the hopelessness still hits — infertility and loss are absolutely overwhelming at times. But when the time is right and some of the grief has let up, wearing my reminders of hope and looking at my reminders on pinterest help to keep me trusting that our future is going to be ok. And if it takes a visual reminder on a piece of jewelry to keep me hopeful, to keep my soul singing, so be it — at least I\u2019ll look cute in the meantime.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to Emily Dickenson, Hope is the thing with feathers – That perches in the soul – And sings the tune without the words – And never stops – at all – (Click here for the full poem.) I think the thought of this is lovely. So lovely that I lettered it recently and originally […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9],"tags":[14],"class_list":["post-111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-coping","tag-hope"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7UmuL-1N","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":294,"url":"http:\/\/www.iamhalfhope.com\/content\/2017\/01\/14\/new-year\/","url_meta":{"origin":111,"position":0},"title":"New Year","author":"Jenna","date":"January 14, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The very first lettering I posted on my musings blog last year was this one: I lettered it on January 5, 2016. It was actually the quote that inspired me to start practicing my lettering. I had found the quote in the late fall of 2015, and I could see\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reflections"","block_context":{"text":"Reflections","link":"http:\/\/www.iamhalfhope.com\/content\/category\/reflections\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mjblythe.com\/beautiful\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/2016_01_05_Hope.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":282,"url":"http:\/\/www.iamhalfhope.com\/content\/2016\/12\/05\/creativity\/","url_meta":{"origin":111,"position":1},"title":"Creativity","author":"Jenna","date":"December 5, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"At the beginning of this year I decided that I would work on my hand lettering skills\u2026 I intended to pick a theme for each month, then letter and illustrate quotes in that theme, and post them on my other blog. For five months I stayed the course and I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Coping"","block_context":{"text":"Coping","link":"http:\/\/www.iamhalfhope.com\/content\/category\/coping\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":423,"url":"http:\/\/www.iamhalfhope.com\/content\/2017\/05\/30\/hope\/","url_meta":{"origin":111,"position":2},"title":"Hope","author":"Jenna","date":"May 30, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019ll be totally honest -- when I started writing this \u201cinfertility is\u201d series, I thought by the time I got to \u201chope\u201d I\u2019d be ready to write about it. I thought maybe by now I\u2019d have some again or maybe even have some amazing insight about hope after all of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reflections"","block_context":{"text":"Reflections","link":"http:\/\/www.iamhalfhope.com\/content\/category\/reflections\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.iamhalfhope.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/infertility_is_hope-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":230,"url":"http:\/\/www.iamhalfhope.com\/content\/2016\/11\/01\/looking-for-rainbows\/","url_meta":{"origin":111,"position":3},"title":"Looking for Rainbows","author":"Jenna","date":"November 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"At support group once we were talking about how we are not our infertility and how we can identify ourselves separate from our infertility\u2026. And I understand that on a rational level, but I argued that it\u2019s not how it feels. I may not *be* my infertility, but it *is*\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Coping"","block_context":{"text":"Coping","link":"http:\/\/www.iamhalfhope.com\/content\/category\/coping\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"looking for rainbows","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.iamhalfhope.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/rainbows-300x294.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":453,"url":"http:\/\/www.iamhalfhope.com\/content\/2020\/10\/24\/in-the-waiting-time\/","url_meta":{"origin":111,"position":4},"title":"In the Waiting Time","author":"Jenna","date":"October 24, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"It is an honor to have my writing included in Emily R. Long's book In the Waiting Time: Messages from Infertility Warriors. My letter posted below is one of 22 letters included in the book --letters written for, and by, individuals with infertility. I hope that our messages and our\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Coping"","block_context":{"text":"Coping","link":"http:\/\/www.iamhalfhope.com\/content\/category\/coping\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.iamhalfhope.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/IWT-Book-Announcement.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.iamhalfhope.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/IWT-Book-Announcement.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.iamhalfhope.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/IWT-Book-Announcement.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.iamhalfhope.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/IWT-Book-Announcement.png?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.iamhalfhope.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/IWT-Book-Announcement.png?resize=1050%2C600 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.iamhalfhope.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/IWT-Book-Announcement.png?resize=1400%2C800 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":335,"url":"http:\/\/www.iamhalfhope.com\/content\/2017\/02\/06\/due-date\/","url_meta":{"origin":111,"position":5},"title":"Due Date","author":"Jenna","date":"February 6, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"After shrieking with joy and sharing the news with Matt, one of the first things I did after finding out I was pregnant last summer was calculate the due date for our baby: February 6, 2017. This date has been imprinted on my heart from that day. 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