To a New Dawn: Letters of Solidarity Anthology

TY HEALY Dear Optimism, Initially, I thought to write this letter in Braille, because for as long as I can remember you have always been blind.

However, this has never seemed to be a disability because I’ve never known another so wide-eyed. I miss that… I miss you.

You used to live at the forefront of my thoughts: always redecorating my mind with bright colours, approaching new challenges with no fear, taking pieces from these lived experiences and placing them like furniture, to create the perfect feng shui. I’m still a person seeking balance but I think I need your help again.

I wrote a little poem for you: This current form of me is a shell of a former me Pessimistic wondering through the mystic fog Trying to hear the sound of a tree falling in the woods All the while knowing that no one is around to cut it down Was that my optimism refusing to social distance?

It’s close, it’s about two metres Just not close enough for me to feel it.

I know this is not my best work, but I hope you get the point. I need that blind optimism back because, with age, concern also grows. Grey hairs sprout from the mind’s 86