2011 Blogher Voices of the Year - CPR For My Battered Hope

Hope.  It's a very small word that carries such enormous weight.  It sustains us as we attempt to reach for our dreams and nourishes us whenever fear and despondency threatened to deter us from our path.  It begins as a sparkly thing, an effervescent bubble bright and shiny with optimism and naivety.  But Rejection occurs.  Criticism. Dejection. Frustration.  Obstacles are thrown in our path.  Our work is discounted, diminished.  Hope becomes battered.  Bruised.  Tarnished.

Anyone who has attempted to forge a career as a writer will understand this Hope I describe.  Piles of rejection letters from publishers, harsh critiques, and months (or years) of hard work for naught is the life of the struggling writer.  So when recognition for our work occurs, it acts as CPR, filling our dulled and deflated hope with buoyancy.  Here's what my Hope looks like today:

http://www.faqs.org/photo-dict/phrase/691/soap-bubble.html

Yes.  My Hope has just received some much needed CPR.  Today I learned I was named a 2011 Blogher Voice of the Year in the Life category for my post My Sister is Velma Dinkley.  It is enough to sustain me through a mountain of rejection letters!

Here's the link for the award:  http://www.blogher.com/announcing-2011-blogher-voices-year

Pop on over to read some excellent posts by the other Honorees.