Who are we, and what are we about?It's very simple really. We're about hope.
We're just people. A handful of adults and kids, just like you. We're about friendship where there's been little or none. We're about safety in the place of threat, fear, and hurt. About internal peace that flushes away torment. About self-confidence that banishes insecurity. We're about love. And help. And hope. We reclaim lost and stolen lives, one at a time.
Hi! Please excuse our mess as we build a new "front door" site here to complement our existing forum, HopeScope. Our goal is to expand what is already a safe, non-exclusive place where you - whether you're a teen, young adult, adult, friend or family member - can talk about a huge variety of topics, as well as share commonalities and talents, or find peer support and expert help, advice, and information on life's challenges, including physical and mental health issues, interpersonal relationships, coping and healing skills, academic matters, and so much more! So in the interim, stop over to the forum and join us... we're always open! In June 2004, I founded HopeScope after having been inspired by a young friend of mine whose life had been frought with more than a little hardship. Today, with no small effort on her part and a little confidence from others, my buddy's life consists of a much brighter palette of colors, and it leaves a contrail of hope for those who find the place that this young person motivated me to create. Thank you, my friend.
HopeScope was initially conceived as a place on the web where young people might come to face myriad challenges that, without at least a small group of peers with common experiences, might prove too much for them to overcome. The scars left by neglect, abuse, alienation, and even circumstances less heinous than these, can easily mar lives mercilessly unless the rush of these devastating tides are diverted by outside, caring forces. Today, however, our small family consists of adults as well... adults whose kindness and compassion for the younger members is born of experience that qualifies them to bestow the promise of hope upon all who know them. Herein lies the strength, and the self-renewing gift, of this tiny family of internet friends.
Oh... about me... my name is Tom. Many call me Tommy, or TeeCat (a play on TomCat), or much worse! But in the long run, I'd hope that people might know me not so much by what I am called, but for what I can impart to them - or help them to discover for themselves - that might be of consequence in their world. This is the single most significant wish that has brought me to this place in my life.
I'm quite unremarkable, really. In fact, I'm entirely average. I like jeans, tees, sandals and ballcaps much better than suits. I love to grill outside and have a good beer or two, and I've raced bicycles as an amateur, as well as ran competitively, without fanfare. But, it's all fun. One might say I have an artistic bent, given my having done a lot of fine woodworking in the past. I'm also fond of photography, and I'm a new student of classical - and other - guitar. Not much tops a nice hike for me... I love being outside. I also relish laughing. My laugh is loud and disruptive, but I rarely care about that. My wit is sometimes wry and subtle, and just as often... well... plain stupid and silly. One young friend of mine at HopeScope says I'm a "nutter". He's correct!
I also love motorcycles! In August 2006, I got my license, at 51 years of age, and a Kawasaki Ninja 250R (a small sportbike). I love riding and it has opened up a whole new world of adventure for me!
Oh... and I love my wife. I have few real friends, and I choose them carefully, but my wife is unequivocally the best friend I've ever had. And those who know me well might say that I like interesting, bright people. What's that mean? Well... it depends. You might be older and powerful, important, rich, and famous... and for all your pomp, circumstance and bluster, still be dull as the day is long. And you'll almost certainly be just as empty. Conversely, you might be a mere fifteen, and possess almost nothing of material value... yet have eyes that have seen far too much for your years, and a mind that asks why things are so... and you'll command my rapt attention, and deepest regard. You are interesting, and bright. You are fundamentally wealthy.
Having been on this planet for half a century, I've invested years in an information technology occupation that has yielded a decent living, but little else of any intrinsic value. So, calling upon my previously acquired skills and education in the mental health realm, I founded HopeScope, in some aspect, as part of a quest for something more. I believe I have found that "something" by way of the people who inhabit HopeScope. Oddly, the surest means of finding what's within you, it seems, is to look without... that is... through others. It's then that you'll see yourself most clearly, as reflected in the eyes of others who trust you. The clarity of this image of yourself, shown in these most honest mirrors, is something that you cannot hope to find anywhere else on earth.
Conservationist Stewart L. Udall once said, "We have, I fear, confused power with greatness." The simple truth of this timely observation is substantiated by an all too evident societal misperception of both power and greatness; for most of the people I know who are truly powerful, or great, have not been alive long enough to knowingly seek to be either. But I've made a promise to myself, and to them, that the world will not rob them of what will make them genuinely great or powerful... not as long as someone believes in them, and as long as they believe in themselves.
TC