Lit eZine Vol 4 | p-1 | From The Lit eZine Desk

At LIT eZINE we aspire to create a collective of lone voices and make them heard.

Hello Readers!

Let us do some deep diving today.

Do you ever question the purpose of your life?
Are you dragged down by the feeling that existence is futile?
Do you worry that you are alone, that you have no place in this world where you truly belong?

I struggle with these every day of my life. Some days the universe is kind and I feel comfortable in my place under the sun. More often, I battle with this crisis that I am not sure really exists. Perhaps, it lives only in my head. That makes my introspection even more intense. My only salve— I am told, I am not the only one. There are others, my brothers and sisters who share my uncertainty and confusion, and that is calming. 

It is said that writers are always in greater danger of falling into the abyss of existential crises than others. They build new worlds and it is so easy to make those worlds dark and desolate. Hopelessness is a contemporary epidemic that threatens our souls. At times, it is not easy to come out of our own heads, to break the whirlpool of thoughts that pull us deep into a place where the air is thin and the light is dim.

How, then, do we come up for air? What is the mantra for a life that oozes hope?

To answer that, I have been asking questions. I have asked my friends and foes, and I have asked the authors who share their words with us, how they hold on to hope when it tries to slip through their fingers.

There are as many answers as there are people. Everyone has their own way of coping. Or not. We are taught that gratitude brings hope. True. It does. But what of the times when there doesn’t seem to be much to be grateful for? At times, we crave to get gratitude instead of just giving it. But do we get it? No, not always. Sometimes never. But such is life.

That is why I believe it is important not only to be grateful but to show that gratitude. There’s someone out there who really needs it. Nothing builds you up like an honest word of empathy, acceptance and appreciation, and nothing kills faster than thoughtless ingratitude.

With our focus on gratitude and hope in this issue, I urge you to think about its place in your life and think deeply and hard because I believe that gratitude is hope’s best buddy. Getting and giving gratitude brings us a little bit closer to hope and opens the door to happiness.

Every moment that you struggle with the questions that seem to have no one answer, remember, that you are not alone in this. Reach out, and you will find others who are walking the same path. Don’t shut out the questions because they are scary. Ask them. It is important to ask why and try to find your own answer. Perhaps the answer is not as important in the larger scheme of things as the question and the path that leads to the answers. 

I say, ask. You might not find an answer but you will surely find your way.

Happy Reading!

Mona

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