Our Rainbows of Hope

The other evening, the Queen made an historic address to the nation. It was a message to inspire hope and to reassure. She spoke about a collective effort, of taking pride in our actions today to define our present and future, and she spoke about how, one day soon, we will meet again.

A few weeks ago, Elin and I went for a walk around our local neighbourhood in Muswell Hill to stretch our legs and burn off some of Elin's impressive storages of energy. I noticed that in some windows of the houses around us, there were childrens' drawings of rainbows. Over the next few days, I noticed more and more cropping up. That afternoon, Elin joined in and drew her rainbow too.

The rainbows have become a symbol of hope throughout this coronavirus crisis and gives thanks to our brave and self-less frontline, who risk their lives every day to help others. The national applause that we showed for our care and essential workers over the past two Thursdays beautifully expresses our appreciation through action, and how our nation has come together to fight this invisible war.

Because only when we come together, do we go forward. Only when we are together, are we stronger.

One of our long time Cocorosers, Nina, sent me this picture of a rainbow that she came across whilst on her daily run around Hampstead Heath. On the back of the rainbow is written "Keep Smiling".

I love how these little acts of kindness have been springing up everywhere. It's sad that it takes a global catastrophe to make us step back, open our eyes and appreciate all the good people and organisations around us. But every cloud has a silver lining. And perhaps the silver lining here is the opportunity for us to reflect and then reset the bits of our lives so that we will emerge with a more meaningful, caring, positive and bright future ahead. 

I love this quote below, and it so beautifully captures where our world is today. And yes, we will absolutely get through this together.