Hope.

Blazer&Dress-Thrifted, Sweater&Tights-Forever21, Shoes-Anne Franco,

Necklace- c/o LeMode Accessories

Lately I've been searching for more hope, more guidance,

more faith.

On Friday I was invited to go to a charity gala that

supported different Phoenix organizations.

I didn't know that it would be an answer to my prayers.

In 2009, an American journalist named Laura Ling

was captured in North Korea. It was all over the news,

and many feared that this American would never return home.

She was the main speaker at the event.

She spoke of her capture that lasted over 4 months;

about being drug across frozen ground,

while being beaten by foreign soldiers,

thinking she was being taken to her death.

She told of wanting to end her life,

because nothing had ever been so dark, so isolated, and so helpless.

She revealed the fear that filled her whole being,

and the complete devastation that shook her very core

when she was sentence to 12 years in a hard labor camp.

The night that she had learned of her fate,

she collapsed in a ball in the corner of her cell,

and cried.

She sobbed so hard that it hurt,

and she was left in despair.

In that very moment, a woman guard,

the very woman who was in charge

of keeping her in prison,

who was cold, anti-American, and cruel,

came up and touched her on the shoulder.

Their eyes meant, and for a moment,

the guard showed an ounce of compassion,

"You must never lose hope."

And then, the guard walked away.

We each have our own moments where

we feel prisoner to circumstances beyond our control.

We have our trials that make us weep so uncontrollably,

that it feels like it will never end-

but consume us forever.

Some of us go through things that our best friends don't even know,

while others feel beaten by years of feeling like we've fallen short,

only to get knocked down again.

To you I say,

"You must never lose hope."

It's hope that gives us light at the end of the tunnel

of complete blackness.

It's hope that stirs something within our souls

that makes us feel things will get better.

It's hope that makes dreams turn to legacies,

and weak men to be honored.

It's hope that gives us a reason to keep fighting for what we desire.

Let's support each other in our own journey to find more hope,

and help other women around us reach the things

that they are hoping for.

It's when we lift others that we truly learn

what life is all about.

Shine on,

you crazy diamonds.