Being surprised never becomes familiar. It if did, it wouldn’t BE surprise. My lastest  surprise was this week. Hope paid me a visit.

For a quantity of days, the level of violence unleashed by shootings in the country I call home has halted writing my blog the way night cancels light, the way a face slap cancels reverie. I had nothing to say.

I looked for words that smarter people have written about hope because I needed to find me some. I read lots of great words but my hope level remained low. I had nothing to say.

Today, I read this by author Maxine Hong Kingston:

“In a time of destruction, create something.”

Here is the surprise part: Having nothing to say is not for me to decide but welcoming hope IS for me to decide. I can choose to create SOME thing. That’s what hope told me when it paid a visit this week. What a surprise.