Design your own hope!

We need HOPE now more than ever! We all are going through difficult and challenging times and life has definitely changed for everyone since 2020. 

From 2005 till 2017 my lovely and talented mum Sima spent years working on three amazing fully handmade gowns for the black Madonna in the most beautiful abbey in Switzerland. Her only motivation was hope! She spent hours embroidering pearls and sequins.

When she first had the idea back in 2005 to design a gown for the black Madonna, she never thought about the impact that it would have on the abbey visitors from around the globe. People from all generations and religions visit the Abbey in Einsiedeln every year. My Mum just did it because it brought her joy and hope. She enjoys the creative process of designing and creating something from scratch. 

Witnessing desperate and sad people seating in front of the black Madonna, sharing and praying their deepest desires and wishes with a statue that is wearing my mum’s piece of art is a satisfying, overwhelming, and fulfilling feeling.

Hope is the most powerful feeling of all. Being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness and sadness is what keeps us all going through difficult and challenging times. Every one of us is different though and I honestly pity people who are not able to impress their feelings and emotions through creativity. 

As I mentioned in my previous posts, it is extremely important to design your own happiness, design your own paradise, and design your own joy. But hope is probably, if not definitely the most important one of all. Because totally without hope, one cannot live. Without hope and faith, we have nothing.

In desperate and lonely times learn to design your own hope and if it is something that also other people can benefit from and find their little piece of hope, the better!

In 2017 two of my mother’s gowns (the white and the blue one) were also exhibited along with other historical gowns from the black Madonna in the National Museum of Zurich “Das Landesmuseum Zürich”. That was like the cherry on the ice. And as if this was not enough it was also printed in an officially illustrated book “Madonnas Fashion” that was published by the abbey about the history of the Black Madonna’s gowns. You can also get a postcard of the first (white gown with pearls) at the abbeys souvenir shop!

So please remember whatever challenges and obstacles you are facing right now, never ever give up on HOPE! Everything can only get better!