Hope | 30 x 24 | Mixed media on canvas | 2020 | Osa Elaiho

Meet Kemi. Kemi lives in a place that is void of water and rain. This absence creates drought, cracked grounds and no food or provision in sight. The temptation is to be resigned, since everything visible indicates nothing will come forth. Yet, not influenced by what is before her and driven by hope, she traverses the land and finds a seed. Squatting, extending her hands, and providing the needed shade, are the intentional acts to provide the conditions for the seed to grow into a tree, which produces fruit.

not influenced by what is before her and driven by hope, she traverses the land and finds a seed

I do not know where I would be without a relatively healthy dose of what I call the Hope Pill, which leads to me feeling hopeful. It’s sure hard and almost naïve to have / feel hopeful, especially when every logical part of me and all I know suggests otherwise. As a human, my natural tendency is to plan and make forward-looking decisions based on empirical and historical data. Unfortunately, I am learning that that formula does not work if I am to be truly hopeful. Its requires faith. For me, its faith that there is something, someone, some energy that is way greater than me. My homeboy Christ, is all that to me and, incomprehensibly more. Call me naïve, but so far my homeboy has showed up each time, every time. That’s why I can take my Hope Pill, in confidence that it is not a placebo drug.