On choosing hope when the world feels heavy

I am often asked how I can write such fun, happy stories when have I have so many hard days. I Like to believe there is a reason I love stories filled with wonder, imagination, laughter, and ordinary moments that are filled with happiness. I certainly don’t think it is because I believe life is always sunny. My life proves quite the opposite. I know exactly what it feels like when life changes without warning, when the future looks nothing like the one you had planned, and when simply getting through an ordinary day can require more strength than you knew you were ever capable of having.

For me, writing happy stories is not about pretending the hard things do not exist. It’s about refusing to let the hard things take charge and be the only thing that does exist.

I have learned that hope does not always arrive as something enormous. Sometimes it is very small. It can be a child laughing in the bathtub with a rubber duck. It can be a living room transformed into a jungle, pillows becoming mountains, or an ordinary afternoon becoming an adventure simply because a child imagined that it could. Those moments may seem insignificant, but I do not think they are. I think they are some of the moments that make life worth holding onto.

That is part of what I want my stories to preserve.

Most children are forced to grow up way to early in life. They will undoubtedly encounter disappointment, fear, loss, and uncertainty when they least expect it and knowing how to navigate these feelings may seem foreign and scary to them. I cannot stop these feelings from happening. I cannot stop the bad things that may come their way. However, what I can do is write stories that remind them that there is still joy and hope and happiness in the world. There is still curiosity. There is still imagination. There is still kindness, silliness, courage, love, and wonder waiting in everyday places.
And maybe I need that reminder too.
If these past 11 years have taught me anything I think that one of the most valuable lessons I have learned is that I have become more aware of the value of the small things and quickly the life you thought you had can change dramatically. Deciding to believe in hope does not I’m choosing to ignore reality. To me, hope is looking directly at reality – even when it is difficult – and still believing there is something worth reaching for and it is a goal I can achieve.

So, when the world feels heavy, my way of making it seem a little less “heavy”, I find myself wanting to create something light and something that says fun and easy. I want to create the kind of light that gives someone a place to rest for a little while. The kind that reminds a child – or perhaps the grown-up reading beside them – that a hard day can still contain a beautiful moment.

This that is what a sunny story means to me.

It is not a story written because there are no storms. It is a story written because there are.

I can’t control every difficult thing that happens in life. I can’t promise the people I love that they will never hurt, struggle, or feel lost. However, through my stories, I will always provide them little pieces of hope. I can remind them to look for wonder. I can give them characters who keep exploring, keep imagining, keep loving, and keep going. Because sometimes choosing hope is not a grand decision at all.

Sometimes it is simply deciding that even on a hard day, you are still going to look for the sunshine.