A few short years after communism collapsed, in the cold autumn of 1995, a young Ukrainian couple embarked, in uncertainty. To uproot their lives, and the lives of their six children, out of the fallen Soviet bloc to a new nation. Vladimir and Dina saw their new home as full of promise. A place of freedom to make life their own. To seek happiness and good health. A promise of rebirth from a history of persecution and trauma, hopelessness and despair.
Vladimir and Dina are my parents. They were and remain full of hope. That happiness can be attained and resided in. They looked to America as others around them wouldn’t or couldn’t. They hoped.
As a trauma specialist, I guide people on their own emotional journey out of mental imprisonment, trauma, anxiety and depression. Our new nation: a life of health, happiness and internal control. But the journey begins with a longing, a lullaby of hope, uncertain and unfinished. And that hope becomes the seed of recovery. Tiny and resilient, as simple as a call for help. Because all our hearts ache to grow whole, healthy, and happy.
As a guide, I work to nurture hope. As a friend, I encourage the same. And if you find yourself yearning for something more, different, even just new, consider taking the therapeutic journey of healing. Your new life may be across the ocean, but with effort and time, the journey may be the greatest of your life.
Do you seek stories of hope? Foster them in yourself and others? If so, share them. As you move through the moments in your day, consider where you see and experience hope. And spread those moments. They could become the seed to someone else’s recovery.
