Remaining Hopeful (April 2021 Calendar Release)

In designing next month's calendar spread, I thought about where I wanted to be, what I wanted to do, and how to remain hopeful in the midst of such challenging times.  I am starting to admit out loud that during the pandemic, my mental health has been on a major roller coaster.  I struggle between wanting to stay safe and keep my children healthy, and feeling absolutely trapped and out of my element.  I'm sure I'm not alone.  When this all started a year ago, the first thing I thought about was that I was not going to be able to take a trip with Avery.  I had plans to attend one of my best friends' weddings in Italy with a newborn, and had every intention of going on a weeklong cruise to somewhere hot.  We've been in lockdown for a year now, and it doesn't always seem like the number of new infections is getting lower, even though vaccinations are being administered to more and more people every day.  And then plug in the horrible events targeting Asian women in Atlanta.  My heart is heavy.

But it's important to remain hopeful.  Even when you can't answer questions like, "what would give me reason to be hopeful?"  It's important to remain hopeful because the next generation is watching how we model behaviour for them.  I have never more felt that how I respond to the events of the world is an example to my children.  So, I'm starting to speak up about anti-Asian racism, and support the Black, Indigenous, and LGBTQ2+ communities.  I'm trying to create new experiences for my kids even though they're being withheld from others.  And I'm trying to remain hopeful.  Hopeful doesn't mean always positive.  Just hopeful.

To that end, enjoy a free download of my April 2021 calendar spread. 

I use a disc binding system for almost all of my notebooks now because I love to customize my own spreads on my iPad.  I've created a letter size version of this calendar, and it's available HERE.  Enjoy!

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