Whenever, I’m surrounded by people, I find myself engulfed in a sea of raw emotion. People get replaced by beating hearts. Each beating heart, probably, witnesses a thousand (or more) emotions — in a lifetime. It’s surprising, the way our minds cave in to emotion and leave reason behind. For an observer, on the outside, the experience can be overwhelming. You might want to avoid any form of participation and decide to stay objective. However, when you start to see the parts as a whole; it will be hard to resist getting swept by the tide and might make you want to question your role as an observer, instead.
“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”
Martin Luther King Jr.
“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.”
Desmond Tutu
What would we be without hope? There would be little to look forward to. For every dream left unfulfilled, love lost, or wish not granted; there’s hope to keep us going. And, when you engrave ‘hope’ in a message and strap it onto a lantern; the sky lights up, and gives you the sign, you were waiting for all along.
“The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.”
Ferdinand Foch
There’s no way to truly avoid grief. One can only try to alleviate the pain by crushing old memories and lighting candles to kill the darkness. And believing, that your loved one, might just be in a ‘better place’.
twobrownfeet 
Such a profound post. “People get replaced by beating hearts.” This is exactly each of us each of us have a heart, feelings and emotions. Sometimes we hurt, but without hurt we can’t every fully experience happiness and joy.
Lovely love-and-hope themed photos by Basil. The last few very well done in low light 🙂
Thank you, Mabel. This week’s challenge was a little confusing. Linking it all up wasn’t very easy. 🙂
Oh my God! This post gave me goosebumps Cheryl!…and love love love the pictures!
Hugs
Thanks, Divya! 🙂 Those candles were haunting. Makes me think of the people who’ve lost someone. Basil was pretty successful in capturing the emotion.
What an amazing post Cheryl, so profound and well put together and as usual complemented with beautiful photos by Basil. A very inspiring take on this week’s photo challenge.
Thanks, Miriam. It amazes me the way people can put so much hope and faith into something. I guess we all have our coping mechanisms. 🙂
Very powerful.
Thanks, Debbie. Certain images make us want to sit back and think. 🙂