Above all… Love each other Deeply.
1 Peter 4:8
As TIME rushes in and another year is born, I welcome 2016 with open arms and a heavy heart. When I look out upon the year ahead and see the world that surrounds me, I can’t help but feel a sense of disconnect. To me, this last year seemed to birth countless world traumas. An endless amount of torment and heartbreak. There were the terrorists attacks on Russia, Paris and California, the flee and death of Refugees from Syria, the mass shootings in America, the earthquake in Nepal, people supporting bigotry and hate spoken from a possible Presidential candidate, natural disasters caused by climate change and the list goes on… It seemed to be a year full of anger, violence and judgement. There were moments when I would turn on the TV or scroll through social media and feel physically anxious and worrisome. I couldn’t help but fear the type of world my children would inherit in their future. My heart was full of angst. But how could it not be? When all we hear every time we turn on the news, read a paper or scroll through Social Media is negativity and fear? How can anyone feel hopeful about the world we live in when hope is never presented? How do we find a solution when no solution is offered? And how do we not fear when all we are fed is fear? Then I read something… It was an excerpt from Nelson Mendela’s Inauguration speech in 1994 in one of my favourite books, ID SOUL. In the speech he said,
“We were all meant to shine as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence atomically liberates others”
And in this very quite moment of reading, something changed. I suddenly realised that even though we are constantly exposed to negativity, we have a choice to turn our gaze. We actually have a choice to open our hearts and love rather than close our minds and hate. Though we are all on the ground, we can still look up to the stars.
So 2016, I welcome you not with resolutions but with a willingness to change my small and intricate place in this world. I will stand in the sun and not hide in the shade. I will be grateful for my freedom and try to help those without it. I will pray for those who threaten our world and try to love those I despise. I will teach my sons who are the future men of this world to be kind, gracious and live with dignity and virtue. I will put more into the world and take less. I will be more self sacrificing. And even if my small contribution goes unnoticed and unheard, I will know that Ive done what I am meant to do on this earth. This is my hope for the year ahead. Not to acquire more things or set more goals but to be a better person and to live a more meaningful life.
There will always be war, violence and hate in our world, nothing has or will change that. But if you peel away the layers, underneath is a breathtaking spectacle filled with beautiful people from all walks of life, color and creed. So as the Good Book says, let us love each other deeply in the hopes that we can change our world into what its intended to be.
Happy New Year Everyone.
I wish you a sublime year ahead.
xx
I am a Creative Portrait Photographer based in Brighton & Hove. My vision is to create unique, authentic imagry that captures the real you, unscripted.