When it seems like the world is just too much for our kids, when we witness hurt, fear, loneliness, a middle schooler’s loss of family or friends, it’s time to spread some hope. This is exactly how Libby, who comes from a long line of bullies, fights her reputation after finding a stone painted with the words Create the world of your dreams, in Flight of the Puffin by Ann Braden. In searching for ways to create that world, Libby, a lonely and art driven middle schooler, sets off a chain reaction of notes of hope when she writes You are awesome on an index card and leaves it outside for someone else who might need a bolster to find.
My own decision to create Notes of Hope with my students came as a project at Mount Mary University to coincide a visit from Diana Chao, originator of Letters to Strangers, to speak about “the largest global youth-run nonprofit seeking to destigmatize mental illness and increase access to affordable, quality treatment, particularly for youth.”
Letters to Strangers, recognizing that it often takes one voice to raise us up, collaborates with student clubs on campuses to write anonymous, heartfelt letters to share vulnerabilities and offer support for others who fight through difficult times.
My class, a group of future teachers, social workers, art therapists, and communication majors, was studying Young Adult Literature. We focused that semester on the literature of mental health and hope. We created origami envelopes using craft cover stock and wrote and decorated notes with ribbons, drawings, and our messages. We wanted to spread the word that creating the world of your dreams, can happen one note of hope at a time. Our Notes of Hope were included as part of the centerpieces at the speakers’ lunch. But my students found the exercise so uplifting that they created over 100 notes and saved some for friends and family, and dropped many more throughout campus knowing the found notes would bolster someone’s day.
Notes of Hope created by students at Mount Mary University and St. Joan Antida High School in Milwaukee
I repeated this activity with a high school group at St. Joan Antida High School in Milwaukee, and again, the group experienced an amazing day of peaceful sharing as they designed their notes and wrote hopeful phrases. While I strongly encourage students to write their own words, they were allowed to share those of artists and authors. Although many students began with published words of wisdom, as they personalized their notes, they wrote their own words offering praise for strength and calm and supporting those who struggle with self- esteem and mental health issues. This is an activity that would surely be successful with all ages.
In preparing students for this activity, we read Braden’s novel and studied the work of Letters to Strangers. I also created a sample note with Emily Dickenson’s poem:
“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –
Notes of Hope isn’t the only effort to stamp out loneliness and bullying and hate. Author Braden developed the Local Love Brigade where Vermont residents send out postcards to support Vermonters experiencing hate. In an interview for the vt digger, Braden explained her motivation. “Love can be seen as a soft and gentle emotion, but it can also be fierce and strong and powerful. That’s really what we’re channeling here.”
I’d love to see what you and your students create to spread hope and create the world of your dreams. Drop me a line and I’ll post your photos. (aangel@aol.com).
Lynne: It’s been in the works for a long time. Parts of it I wrote 10 years ago. The setting is made up from different coastal towns in Texas, including Indianola. That town was pummeled by two hurricanes in the late 1800’s and is now a ghost town. Much of the old town is now underwater. In the book, the main character, Max, is a sweet compassionate kid, but his father is an overbearing politician and car salesman. They also look alike. So when Max travels to the beach with his mother, it’s a welcome change from the pressures of trying to fulfill what others have planned for him – like being a football star.
Lynne: I watched documentaries, then got to meet octopuses at various aquariums, including Houston Zoo. At the zoo, I did a behind-the-scenes tour where I could meet them. In one instance, one of my hands was being pulled into a tank by an octopus while my other hand took pictures. The ones I met were Giant Pacific. They’re the ones most people think of even though it’s not the one in the book. They are huge. At the Houston Zoo, the octopus didn’t have a name so I named her Ursula. I used the same name in my book. Max thinks the octopus he finds looks like a deflated volleyball, so it’s smaller than the ones most people see in public aquariums.
Lynne: I’d written about mammals before but octopuses are so different. They’re good puzzle solvers. I was reading about their brains. It’s almost as if they have nine brains. There is a central brain, and each arm has its own brain. They can hunt for food with one arm while punching an animal with the other. They don’t have long lives. They live about 3 years. And they don’t grow up with examples, so their behavior has to be instinctual. Their fathers die after mating. Their mothers watch over the eggs then dies when they hatch.
Lynne: Max hangs out at the center. He’d grabbed post-storm debris for a makeshift tank while he searched for help. He meets Emmett, who suggests they take her to a beach house, which is the wildlife care center. Inside they see injured animals such as sea gulls, pelicans, and a sea turtle with a cracked shell. The center names the animals after book characters. They have a tank big enough to care for the octopus until she’ll be strong enough release back to the environment. Octopuses have escaped, so they have to weigh down the lid. They also have a lot of hatchlings. Some have hundreds, others have tens of thousands. Most will not make it which may be why octopuses have so many eggs.
