Hope + a Great Giveaway with Stacy Kathryn - When I Grow Up

Hope + a Great Giveaway with Stacy Kathryn - When I Grow Up This is a guest post and a giveaway from my spectacular sponsor Stacy Kathryn! Read through to the end to learn how to win one of her HOPEfuls, and see why theyre so important to her. When I emailed Michelle about this guest post I knew I wanted to write about hope, but wasn’t really sure how to approach the subject. I know hope is one of those words that for some seem like a silly notion or a tired promise for a political campaign, but for others that cling to it, it’s a bit of a life line.   I’m one of those people who fall in the middle, but the word hope has always resonated with me because of what it means. With that I looked up the word hope and the dictionary defines it as: hope [hohp] noun, verb, hoped, hop ·ing. noun 1. the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best: to give up hope. 2. a particular instance of this feeling: the hope of winning. 3. grounds for this feeling in a particular instance: There is littleor no hope of his recovery. 4. a person or thing in which expectations are centered: Themedicine was her last hope. 5. something that is hoped for: Her forgiveness is my constanthope. Including the dictionary definition of a word is arguably overused, often as a filler in commencement speeches and editorials. But I think in this case, its useful to include it because one thing I noticed is that hope encompasses a whole slew of meanings and uses, with positive and negative feelings to them. I realize that we cannot, or at least should not focus solely on the future, writing off today and telling ourselves to hope for a better tomorrow. But hope can be put into action; it can be the spark that helps set our lives on fire. For me, hope means that my dreams can come true, that what I’m chasing after (the dream of doing what I love full-time) is attainable. I also believe that we can spread hope around, that it is a gift to give. That by helping others realize their dreams, even just encouraging someone, or playing a small part in helping things move forward for others, that we are giving away hope in its purest form. “Hope is a waking dream.” ? Aristotle Hope is something I hold onto tightly, no matter if my dreams change, life gets rough, or things sometimes arent going the way I expected. I believe that as long as we have a little bit of it, we can make extraordinary things happen in our lives, as well as those around us. How do you pass along hope to others? I would love to know. {You can win your choice of Stacys HOPEfuls (a $36 value!) like the one you see to the right by commenting below on which ones your favorite and why. You can also get a bonus entry by leaving a separate comment as to how you pass hope along to others. Comments will close on 10/4 at noon Eastern, and the winner will be announced shortly thereafter. Break a leg! Congrats to Emma for winning a HOPEful! Emma, Stacy will be emailing ya soon to get your deets.} - Stacy Kathryn is an artist, and dreamer who loves to spend time creating mixed media paintings, illustrations and anything else she can dream up. Though her life has taken many twists and turns her passion for art has been a constant companion. She hopes to share her enthusiasm and inspire others to embrace change and creativity. website: www.stacykathryn.com  etsy shop:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/stacykathryn