Alice V.L.'s Blog

Hello all!

The second month into our American Journey has absolutely flown by! It feels as though we just got here, but then again, when I think of all we’ve done and all the friends we’ve made, it feels as though we’ve been here forever. Friends have stopped by to drop off autumn decorations and the weather has definitely introduced us to a kind of fall we don’t know back in South Africa. I would so far as to say our winters there are a touch milder than autumn over here. I have been to Deb Obermeier’s farm, fondly known as Slipknot in her book series and we’ve taken on a Sunday evening dessert tradition. Sunday evenings are set aside to either host dessert or to go out for dessert and it is fabulous! And fattening. Again, all this food and all these treats!

But also, I’ve been spending a lot more time with Tammy Koelling, our publisher and CEO of Words Matter Publishing. What the Words Matter team accomplishes on not a daily basis, but an hourly one is absolutely astonishing. The work and the hours the publishing house puts into each author was something I never quite fully realized until now. Honestly, I just don’t know how she does it? Each author is a priority – not one, not two, but each one of us are number one on her priority list. The thing with Tammy is, she does not leave a project for a team member to deal with alone, she is on top of it at ALL times! She liaises directly with each one and believe me, we can be so demanding. I have new-found respect for her and her team. I have come to realize how extraordinary Words Matter Publishing is, and how far they’ll go for each one of us. More than anything, I will never forget how much faith she placed in bringing me over for a few months, while giving it her all to keep us happy and comfortable.

I just had no idea so much goes into publishing one single book and I don’t think I have ever realized how much time she puts into every single aspect of the publishing house and her WMP authors.

The second part of our journey began with my daughter joining us for a short while. She arrived the day after her birthday and of course, Tammy made sure that we had a belated birthday party for her. My heart missed her so!

The weekend of the 8th September sent us to the Craft and Vendor Fair in Belleville Illinois at the Belle Clair Fairgrounds and Expo Center in Belleville. Again, it was another unique experience where we got to meet so many fabulous people! And slowly, I am beginning to find my feet and am learning ffrom Tammy and the other wonderful WMP authors.

Then it was straight to an event in Okawville. Although still feeling a little strange, it was great to experience the annual street festival which included dozens of different floats, music bands, fire trucks, cheer leaders and so much more! And! I got my selfie with two police offers! Next on my list; be a passenger on a yellow school bus!

We had a beautiful booth indoors and met some amazing readers and authors while we were there. Again, Tammy Koelling bent over backwards to ensure that it all turned out smoothly and that we all had a fabulous time while getting out there with our books. Of course, seeing pumpkins and watermelons, some of which weighed over 700 pounds was an added bonus!

Tammy with the monstrous pumpkins and watermelons.

This was also where I met Spooky Old Alice, a character and a cow in Gary Guest’s Fertilizer For The Funnybone. Yep. A cow.

Then there was the Nashville Festival. I think this was the highlight of all our book events to date for me! I met a few more WMP authors and this time, I was so much more at ease around strangers even if I sound so different to them. I think I’m finally getting the ‘hang’ of this!

Yesterday, we hosted the first Author Launch Pad at Centralia Library. My nerves were shot, but as we drove to the library, I looked over at Tammy and reminded myself of all she does to promote her authors and all the events she arranges for us. I knew that I had to get my act together, forget my fear of public speaking and do the very best I can. For her. For all she has done for us, her authors. For all the work she puts into us and our work and for all the times she inspires us; the times we think we fail. For all the effort she puts in and for the faith she so naturally has for us all. It was time to bring my side. Well, let me tell you, I might have sounded different, but I got out there and did it. She on the other hand, was fabulous, of course! She always is!

What is in store for the next month? I have no idea, but what I do know is that we have the Witches Night Out at the end of October and I am looking forward to meeting fellow author, Shannon Simpson.

Words Matter Publishing is growing at a phenomenal rate with so much expansion taking place that is specifically aimed at their authors and their work! I can’t wait to see how it all turns out and I am so thankful to be here while all this is happening.

America is a beautiful country. Americans are warm-hearted and forgiving. I miss South Africa and I miss my beautiful friendships, but I know too that distance means nothing with friendships like mine. I am learning, adjusting and adapting to the ways of the Americans and am so excited to see what the next few months hold before we go home.

Driving on the wrong side of the road doesn’t seem all that strange anymore, but I still get into the wrong side of the car … sometimes!

Until next time! Keep safe!

Lots of love,

Alice

The world still turns. The seasons still come and the seasons still go. Autumn changes the color of the leaves and with winter comes the cold and the snow. In spring, the world cheers at the sight of blossoming flowers and new beginnings. And then, in summer, laughter fills and lingers in the air.

The world still turns. The streets are filled with the sounds of cars making their way down the roads and the voices of people on city pavements still echo in the distance. Children are still born each day. Lovers fall in love and lovers fall out of love, every single day. Death comes for those whose time is up, but the world still turns. Mornings still come with each new sunrise, and the darkness covers the universe with each sunset. The world awakes, the world goes to sleep, and the world still turns.

But hers doesn’t. Her world stood still a long time ago. It no longer turns. It has kept her trapped in a kind of a limbo she can’t get out of; one she just can’t escape from. Everything around her changes, yet nothing is different. Her world stood still. Her life has been rocked and her heart is shattered.

But, for the rest there is not even a slight indication from the universe that something has changed; something so important to someone so much lesser has been lost. There is nothing to tell her that his leaving has somehow impacted the world, shoved it off-course or shook it slightly off its track. Like it did her. Like it shoved her to the ground and kept her there. There is nothing to tell her that he was important to this world, to this life and to her heart.

Yet, while the world forgets him, she searches for him at the break of each day and at the last light of each night. She looks for him between the walls of the home he once lived in. She traces the footprints of a life he once existed so profoundly in. She follows the trails he once took on the city streets, and she continues all the way down to the dirt roads he once found solace in. She retraces the paths he took to the beach and she follows his tracks to the forest. She looks for him. She keeps looking for him. She still looks for him.

She tries to find him in crowds. She hunts for proof that he was once real. She clings to photographs, and she holds on to the memory of him. She doesn’t want the world to forget. She doesn’t want to forget.

And still, the world turns without him. She so wishes it didn’t.

Forgive me!

I have been trying to get around to updating my website and blog posts from the moment I got here, but alas, my feet hit American soil running!

For those of you who don’t know, it all began with a 2am message, ‘Alice – you’re coming to America for about 4 months!’ Well, of course I was bowled over and couldn’t quite wrap my head around it until my amazing publishing house said something to the effect of, ‘your books are taking you to America.’ My books? Really?

This is Tammy Koelling – CEO Words Matter Publishing

I hadn’t quite recovered from the shock yet when my Visa was approved and issued, my plane tickets were bought, accommodation was in place and a truck was arranged for the duration of our stay.

Our home away from home and Walt, our truck.

After traveling for three days, a bus ride and two exhaustive plane rides, we finally landed in Chicago where Tammy met us. Having had my phone stolen at Johannesburg International Airport and having picked up a debilitating stomach bug, I was not in the best shape when we landed and was so sure she’d send us right back home! She didn’t!

We drove another five hours to what would become our base for the next few months.

I am still pinching myself! I have had a blast this first month! I have been to Barnes and Noble in Belleville as well as having had two book events at the Belle Clair Fairgrounds which were amazing! But, I am still learning and am having so much fun watching Tammy, and fellow authors, Deb and Kathy (and many more to come) as they handle these events like pros! I thought the accent might be somewhat of a problem when I arrived, but we ‘get’ each other just fine!

Tammy has gone so out of her way to make sure we are comfortable and settled; from sorting out the internet to making sure we have enough towels and enough of what we need! How lucky can one girl get? Oh … and funny! I have laughed more in this month than I probably have in a year!

Our Barnes and Noble visit.

My table at the Belle Clair events.

I have had the pleasure of meeting Sally Boyle and Sue McCree Stein at Country Creek Treasures! What an amazing store! I used to sit and gaze at their pictures on Facebook, dying to set foot in that store! It was better than I could ever have imagined. From the moment I walked in, I felt as though I had been there forever. They even went as far as to fill our grocery cupboards! There is much to be said for America and their citizens! I am honored!

I met Chrissy and Lynn from Ten Pin Antique Mall. Oh … I am pretty sure I had a mini heart-attack when I strolled through their store. It was once a ten pin bowling alley that was so lovingly converted into an antique store. Oh, and the bed I sleep in each night comes right out of that store!

Ten Pin Antique Mall

I am one month into a 4 to 6 month stay and am having the absolute time of my life. I have made wonderful new friends and feel as though I have known Tammy, Deb, Kathy, Sue, Sally, Chrissy, Lynn, Donna and Bruce (who have graciously allowed us to live in their home) for my entire life.

September is a busy month with events lined up for each weekend so far. It is new to me. Everything about being here is new to me, but I am adjusting and embracing this wonderful opportunity that I know only comes around once in an entire lifetime!

I feel favored. Lucky. Blessed. Honored. Deeply thankful.

With Words Matter Publishing right beside me, I feel as though I can conquer America!

Look out for part two of my American journey!

Lots of love,

Alice!

The rain came crashing down in front of her, as thunder and lightning lit up the sky. She could barely see the road in front of her and knew how fitting the weather was. She wondered if the raindrops, and the enormous bolts of lightning knew that he had just left her world. She couldn’t help but wonder, if they were in fact, lighting up his way as he left the earth.

What she did know was, that it would be the darkest day of her entire life, no matter how bright the lightning was, or how low the stars would lay above her. It would be the one day that would be remembered for finally destroying her heart, and ultimately shattering her soul for once and for all. It would become the day that she was sure, she could never survive.

She silently prayed to God to have mercy on her heart and end her life on earth too. She begged Him to reach down and take her to him.

“I have to be where he is …”

She shouted out through the tears that were gushing ruthlessly from her eyes. She wanted to turn around and go back to him. She wanted to hold him against her and breathe new life into him. It never once crossed her mind that he could die. She never once believed or considered the fact that his life could be over without any prior warning.

For the first time in her life, she felt completely alone and abandoned. She felt punished for all that had happened to her, and she blamed herself for angering God.

She glanced around her and noticed how people were beginning their days just as the sun was about to rise. She was angry that they were going about their lives, as though nothing was different, when her entire existence was falling apart around her.

When nothing mattered to her anymore, and when she could hardly breathe, she held her breath, desperate to stop breathing, but when her body took over and breathed for her, she slammed her fists into the steering wheel and cried out in desperation.

She wanted the world to feel what she was feeling. She wanted the strangers on the road around her, to take the smiles off their faces, and understand the pain she was in. She wanted the world to stop and become silent for him.

They had no right to start their days and carry on, as though he was never here.

He sat down on the bed beside her, as she lay with her back towards him. He gently touched her shoulder, before she slowly turned to face him. He was horrified to detect the dark circles around her bloodshot and distended eyes.

Her beautiful blue eyes had turned a dark, misty grey and her skin tone had turned ashen. Her long, blond tresses were wildly trying to find a place on her head, and when she peaked through her hair at him, he knew that she had finally given up, and entirely surrendered to the darkness that had overwhelmed her.

“I have to be where he is …”

Alice spent the majority of her childhood in her grandmother’s home who taught her to play the piano and the Melodica. During times spent with her beloved grandma Lulu, she developed a passionate love for reading and began her writing career writing casual poetry.

She spent many years working as a recruitment consultant while secretly writing her stories. It was only when she began writing regularly for a local magazine, that she began to invest more of her time in her writing.

From a very young age, Alice found herself drawn into a world of poetry and writing, and once she had successfully published “her voice” as she calls it, her world into non-fiction began.

Her greatest love has always been the English language while her torment and childhood deficiencies led her into the world of bringing the two together.

A music lover, a book addict and her enormous devotion to “broken souls” have catapulted her into a world of both fiction and non-fiction.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW with Alice VL about her books, “Lola’s Secret” and “Molly.”

WM–Why did you write this book?

Lola’s Secret focuses on a young girl reaching adulthood without her parents, and a sister to take care of. Even though she comes across as shy and introverted, when she finds love, it helps her evolve into the strong, independent woman she becomes. All the obstacles she faces in such a short time, only make her stronger when she is supposed to fall apart completely.

Molly is about a young girl who has loved from a very young age. As she grows older and is separated from him, she remains committed to a boy, and later a man she goes back to find.

What is the target audience?

Young adult – romance.

What are the words that matter most?

Love and devotion.

Who is the character in the book you most identify with and why?

I identified largely with Lola, as through all she went through, she managed to fight and claw her way out, without losing that about her, which matters the most.

What’s in it for the reader? How does this book add value to the life of the reader who chooses to spend their precious time reading it?

They are both stories about staying true to yourself and to your heart and to have faith in a love that always wins out in the end, no matter what.

How should this book be read and why? ( e.g., in 1 sitting, 1 chapter at a time, etc.)  Is this a book that requires my full undivided attention and undiluted focus or can I read it with screaming kids around?

I think they are books that allow you to feel what the character feels. I think it depends on the reader and their ability to focus and become a part of the characters and stories.

If readers were to really comprehend and embrace the message of your book, could it inspire them to greatness? OR if the point of the book is for entertainment,  could it give them a much-needed rest or teach them how to relax?

I think they are feel-good books at the end and might just re-affirm the fact that love is worth it. Always.

Who is the main characters and give a brief description of them or their role in the story?

Lola is a young girl that is much older than her years. She takes care of her younger, extroverted sister who enjoys life and all it has to offer. Lola’s only focus is to successfully raise her sister, as she, tries to grow up and reach adulthood. Through her childhood trauma, she has no desire for love, but when she meets Daniel, she can’t shake a connection or emotions she feels towards him. She spends much time trying to ignore them, but eventually surrenders to her feelings and falls in love with him. Their relationship is not without trials, and when she learns of the secrets of her identity, she is thrown into unknown territories.

Molly too is a young girl living a normal life in a city she was raised in. She is dating Ryan, a boy she had grown up with. When her father moves them to the city, Molly struggles to adapt without him. When her father later gives her an ultimatum, she leaves home after graduation in search of Ryan again. But, what she isn’t prepared for is how Ryan had changed, and how she could not step back into his life, as though she had never been gone.

What is the main conflict?

In both books, it is general challenges young girls face as they grow up.

What is the central question that the book seeks to answer?

Can love truly conquer all?

How did you come up with the characters for this book?

The characters actually became their own as the story progressed.

What was the hardest part of writing this book?

They were both challenging in terms of all the trials they both had to endure. There were times I felt that perhaps, it was a little unrealistic, but having lived similar challenges, it was important to show that no matter how hard, or how trying and unfair life was, they could rise up above their circumstances, with their hearts and dignity intact.

Do you plan to write more? (what are you currently working on or plan to write in the future?)

I have a few projects I am busy with. I have started on a series called The Bookstore which focuses on events surrounding a bookstore and the ability to go back to a certain moment in time and alter a course of devastation.

She mustered up all the strength she had left inside of her to turn onto her side, and pull her legs up against her, until her knees touched the warmth of her chin.

She was crippled by fear as she stared apprehensively out in front of her. Her terrified eyes searched for a shadow that had cruelly infested her home and infected her life only a few minutes earlier.

She could hear the echo of his footsteps as though he was trampling holes through her floor, with each angry step he took. She listened closely as she held her breath to what sounded like a zipper being pulled up.

Holly folded her arms around her belly and was at once unnervingly aware of a warmth that had begun to seep through her hands. As she lay desperate to identify the warm wetness that was flowing through her fingers, she suddenly heard the slamming of what she was sure was her front door.

The violent way in which a door had been battered and shut, echoed down the hall, and right into her bedroom where she was laying motionlessly on the floor, submerged in a pool of her own blood.

She fought desperately to keep her eyes open as they grew heftier with each passing moment and with each breath she struggled to take.

As her tears slowly dribbled from her eyes, Holly lay on her bedroom floor, unable to make a sound and powerless to move. As her blood cascaded around her, the stench in the air began to sicken her. Her body contorted violently when she detected the continuous flow of her own blood all around her.

She could not bear the horrific smell that had begun to immensely frighten and terrorize her. The whiff of death wholly plunged her into a kind of stench she had never inhaled or smelled before.

The waves of panic that had begun to overwhelm her, sent a panic-filled shudder down her spine. She was suddenly cold and sleepy. She moved her toes slightly, and was at once aware of a throbbing, burning sensation in her legs that travelled right down to her feet and into the very tips of her toes.

The warmth that had seeped out below her and soaked into her body, had become ice-cold. She was once again gravely aware of how distressingly weighty and sluggish her eyes had become.

The intense discomfort throughout her body became almost too much to endure, when she could not determine precisely where her soreness was coming from. She could not identify a single segment of her body that was not aching.

She wanted to surrender to the pain; to break down and scream out in agony, but even that seemed almost too excruciating to do.

Her breathing had become severely labored, as she distraughtly gasped for air to fill her lungs. With each breath she fought to take, she was sure that her airways were severely restricting her ability to breath, and that her lungs could no longer take in even a single breath of fresh air.

Her legs were cold and shaking irrepressibly. Holly realized in horror that she was completely naked from the waist down. Again, she tried to move, but she could barely move a finger, or lift an arm.

With every bit of strength left inside of her, she turned onto her back, and stared up at the ceiling, still frantic not to surrender to the darkness that was threatening to overpower her. She turned her head and stared at the calendar that she had hung up behind her door only a few weeks earlier.

“February 12th, 2005 …”

She whispered huskily and knew instinctively that it would be the date permanently marked and inscribed on her tombstone.

“How often didn’t I reach this day in all the years I have lived, and I never knew … I never knew …”

She thought sadly as she lay staring at the date. Her eyes moved forward two days when she noticed the enormous red circle she drew around the 14th,

“Valentine’s day …”

She whispered softly before she slowly turned away from the calendar, and allowed her eyes to rest on the ceiling once again.

She felt a sharp twinge come from her belly. When she could no longer control her agony; when the fear began to cripple and wholly engulf her, she finally cried out in grueling pain when she realized that the warmth was nothing more than her own blood that was seeping from her stomach.

She had, only moments before, been gutted with her own kitchen knife, and left for dead by a man she had known for most of her adulthood.

When Holly closed her eyes one final time, she had no idea that she would wake up to another time, years before to the day before her mother died. Before she married Mark and before Adam snuffed her short life out.

As Holly desperately focuses on saving her mother, she goes back to The Bookstore to find Sarah, hoping for answers from her and from Passage Of Time where she accidentally learned of Sarah’s own journey back in time.

A Crinkle In Time

Why do we choose our words so carefully to say what we think others want to hear? Why do we cling to things that hurt and control us? Why do we chase things to impress others, but bring no joy to our hearts? Why do we love with rules and expectations? Why do we live so cautiously and value other’s opinions above our own? Why must life make any sense at all? Why can’t we just have faith that our hearts already knows what to do?

For one day, let us rather just live as though we have nothing to lose. Let us speak from our hearts and feel the messages from our Soul. Let us pay attention to the gentle nudges deep within us, and try and follow they path it wants us to go on. Let us love those who want nothing from us. Let us love as though there is nothing to gain and nothing to give.

Let us walk slowly, instead of running and let us bring out those dreams we buried deep inside of us somewhere. Let us say how we feel, and have nothing to fear because of that.

Let us look into the eyes of those we love with nothing to hide and nothing to prove. Let us lift the veils from our eyes and from our hearts, and show the world we are worth so much more than things.

Let’s get back those kitchen dances, and the sparkles we once had in our eyes. Let us bring that inner child back, and believe in fairies, magic, unicorns and fairy tales.

Let us take a moment and hear someone’s story. Let us listen for their prayers.

Let’s leave for tomorrow what steals time from us today. Disappointing others is sometimes necessary.

Find the extraordinary in the ordinary again. Kick off your shoes and feel the sand underneath your feet. Put that flower back in your hair and run through fields of daisies. Watch the sunrise and appreciate the sunsets – they are God’s reset button.

And love. Love because there was something to love when it all began. Whether it’s been only a few weeks or twenty years, find that, that once bowled you over. Look closely again and let your heart whisper old love letters to your soul. Take his hand, and squeeze it. Plant a kiss on his cheek and mean it. Go through old photographs and remember why you fell in love in the first place. Love yourself. Value your you’ness. Un-complicate things; call back that, that you miss. Take back that which once made you happy. Cry when you want to and laugh out loud as often as you can. Don’t try to figure things out – you don’t have to. Don’t try to understand everything, you shouldn’t.

Life shouldn’t make sense. It must be a leap of faith and trusting the Universe with your life, because when all is said and done; when our journey is over, all we are left with is that, that is carved into our Souls.

What if we could change one single crushing, devastating and shattering event that debilitated us, crippled us and changed our lives forever?

What if we knew what was coming and we are given the power to stop it from happening at all?

What if there really is a fault in the stars once in a while?

What if we could change just one single decision?

What if YOU were given one more last chance?

What if?

That is exactly what happened to Sarah and Holly – they were given one more last chance to go back.

But, what if a love for someone left behind is so great that he finds an opening between two Universes, to come back to her?

Misty-Bleu was given one more last chance to love him again – in her world, and in his.

Sarah dreamed big. She dreamed of bright city lights, success and becoming someone important someday. When she set out to find her own kind of wonderful – to see her name in the stars, to find her place in the world she so desperately hunted, she swore to come home worthy of Daniel’s love.

But the years went by and each year, Sarah needed just one more year until twelve long years had passed.

When she finally came home, she was horrified to discover how nothing was the same anymore. She was devastated by the secrets her family and Daniel had hidden from her, and she was crushed to learn that she had come home, one promise too late.

Is her devastation so great that Adelaine Alandrali takes pity on her and gives her one more last chance to change who she becomes, how she gets there and more importantly, can she save Daniel from a seeming, inevitable fate?

Passage Of Time – Book 1

Holly stumbles into Sarah’s Bookstore after hearing exciting news. Her life is about to be exactly the way she planned. She accidentally finds Passage Of Time on a coffee table in the bookstore. Sarah is horrified that Holly had stumbled across Adelaine Alandrali’s magic, and knows instinctively that Holly is in trouble.

That night, Holly didn’t get to share her news with Mark and is brutally murdered at the hands of his best friend.

Does Adelaine Alandrali know Holly’s fate when she gives her one more last chance to go back, and alter her course?

But, is it as simple as that? Does Sarah see the signs Holly refuses to? When Sarah and Daniel race against time to alter Holly’s fate, does Mark finally see the signs too?

Or, is it too late … again?

A Crinkle In Time – Book 2

He was not ready to lose her in either worlds, so he tricked the stars and conspired against the Universe.

He loved her in life – he swept her into a portal and loved her in death, and then he sent her back to her world as he continued to linger in his – between life and between death.

They told her it was all in her mind. They said that her memories were never real.

They locked her away until he found a way back, through his Universe, a portal and back into hers.

Afterlight – A Novel

Never say never. Never think never.

They took away her name. They took away her face. They took away her identity, and then they sent her back to her old life.

He met her again. He fell in love with her again. He saw it in her eyes and he heard it in her voice.

eBook – It’s Me, Samantha

(Paperback will be available shortly)

When Samantha left for overseas to complete a project at work, she had no idea that she would never return as the girl who owned William’s heart or as the daughter and sister of a family she had been raised in.

Four years after Samantha said goodbye to them for a quick trip, she came back to a life that would no longer recognize her as Samantha; and she quickly learned that she had to fight her way back as Sandra. Samantha no longer looked like the girl they buried after learning that she had died in a fiery car crash, so far away from home.

Samantha slowly found her way back into a life that had almost forgotten her; only she had to find her way back to them while trying to become Sandra, taking on a new identity and a new face; back to William and back to a life she longed for.

Real life; the real world and the reality of chaos and crisis can be awfully daunting, exhausting and emotional trying for anyone who finds themselves caught up in conflict or conditions beyond their control. It becomes an inner struggle, a sort of mind-over-matter force to pull ourselves together, and hope that each new day will be different; that even the smallest change, will make it a good day – a better than before day.

When feeling trapped in a world intent on conflict, bitterness, hatred, chaos, intimidation and the instilling of fear, it is so easy to crawl into a safe corner and disappear into our surroundings. It’s easy to check out and give up. It’s easy to fade away into the background as we become smaller and smaller each day. It’s easy to give up. What other choice is their than to crawl into a safe place?

I have one such safe place. One I created where I can type out a thousand words of a make-believe world where love, faith and hope dominates. I can do that, because that’s what I do when the world becomes too noisy. That’s my safe place and that is where I leave this world for a few hours, and escape into the next. A better one. A safer one. A happier one. One that I can tailor-make and design for myself and for the characters I have dreamed up and live with for a while. A world that knows nothing of hatred, conflict or chaos.

That’s what writing my stories do for me. That’s where my characters take me, and that is where I live when I check out of this world. And while I am there, in their world and while I live with them, for a while, life is perfect. Life is beautiful. Life is kinder. Life is better. A world where the people I love are safe and happy. The people I don’t know, are thriving and the people whose names haunt me, are flourishing.

Imagine … the world loves each other. Imagine, there is no war; no fighting and no-one to fear. Imagine, we all pay our dues diligently, and we all contribute fairly.

Imagine. Love.

But, when I am yanked back into my real world and I sit quietly for a while, I realize that even through all this fragility and turmoil around us, there is still much to be grateful for. There is much to cling to; there is hope. There is always hope. In the strangest of places, there is hope. It shows up out of nowhere, and just in the nick of time. Always.

You and I, we woke up this morning. We got dressed, and we showed up for a new day. We aren’t alone as we warrior through for the next person that feels trapped, scared and broken. We have hope. We have dreams. We mourn those we have lost, and we learn from those who sacrificed even more than just their lives. We get dressed, and we show up for them. For those that are still here and are fighting for a world of peace, we show up on time and each day.

Imagine. Love.

With just a little bit of hope, fear is defeated. Conquered. Hope is what drives the warrior in all of us, for us and for others. Hope is the fight, the perseverance, the strength and the willingness to get up each day and start again.

Because, that’s what we do … we fight. We conquer. We lose. We grow weary, we re-group, we get up and we begin again. We warrior our way through anything because giving up is not what God trains us for. We love, we aid the wounded and we pass on hope, because … that’s what we do. We shield the weak, we defend the weaker and we hold tightly onto the weakest, because that’s what we do.

Why do we do all that? Because, we have hope. Because, we promise it to someone else. Because, we love, we honor, and we value all that God surrounds us with. The fight between good and evil is not limited to another world, another dimension or even the afterlife. It is here, in this world. It lives amongst us; it dwells between us. It shows up each day, just as we do. It seeks to destroy us. It desires to cripple us. It never leaves us alone, but we show up for it. We don’t understand surrendering and we do not fall to our knees or bow before the enemy and accept defeat. We soldier on each day, because that is what is asked of us.

We have hope, because perhaps, on the other side of the world, someone is quietly working behind the scenes to make life better for someone else. Strangers know. Strangers see. Strangers hear. Perhaps, somewhere out there, someone else is fighting just as hard as we are, for us. To give us hope, so that we can hold on while we wait for renewed strength. Perhaps, somewhere, someone else and in the strangest of places, won’t let us fight alone.

An impossible dream? Maybe not.

Gratitude. Because, for one more day there is a promise out there somewhere that our lives matter. That all lives are important. That we are a part of something bigger. Better. That society needs us too, and that we are deserving of love. Love. That our footprints will be burnt into the soil of this world, just like many others before us, alongside us and ahead of us. That there is a place for us; and for the wonderful things in this world we can contribute to.

So, for one more day, YOU fight, YOU love, and YOU remain the very best version of yourself, because someone somewhere knows what THEY are fighting for.

You cannot promise the world an orange, and hand-over a lemon instead. Don’t promise value, show it. Don’t promise loyalty, give it. Don’t swear to honesty, be it.

We have only one obligation to ourselves and to the world – to live in a way that shows we are worth it.