Overwhlemed.
Today is an amazing day to be alive. My emotions are frequently influenced by what is going on around me, with my friends, at work, and the world at large. I pay attention. The Inauguration ceremony today was monumental, and the emotions I am experiencing are equally monumental. Today is a turning point.
I apologize in advance for this being all over the place, my mind is in a million different places. I probably should have and typically would have mulled these thoughts for longer before trying to share but I have to communicate this now, while I feel the way I do.
Yo Yo Ma performed a song (along with other incredible musicians) composed for this day that really did the seemingly impossible by meeting the greatness of this historic occasion. I started off solemn and slow, sad even, then picks up to the most uplifting beautiful music I believe I've ever heard. Perhaps I'm looking too much into it, but it certainly could be a metaphor for our current solemn and slow state, and the shift that has occurred, Barack Obama uplifting the mood of the country. The inaugural poem by Elizabeth Alexander was equally awe-inspiring. A few of my favorite lines included "We encounter each other with words" and "What if the mightiest word is love?". I can't wait to read it. This is such a tremendous time to experience. I find it true that extraordinary times in history produce extraordinary art, literature, and music and for the first time in my lifetime I feel like America is contributing something substantial to the arts.
Exceptional times also produce exceptional leaders. Hearing Barack quote Lincoln, "... that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.", Barack adding, "So it has been, so it must be with this generation." It gave me goosebumps. These are the times history books are made of. We keep saying that we choose change, but I feel like to bounce back from this terrible recent history hope and virtue are the only choice we have. I have said before that there is no question that it will be different for the youngest minority Americans growing up with a multiracial man being the most powerful man in the world. I had a British professor once who told me that he notices growing up with women in political power (Margaret Thatcher and Elizabeth II). There was much less room for sexism in the UK when the two most influential people were women, just as there will be much less room for racism now that the highest elected official isn't white.
Side note: It must have taken a great deal of courage for Obama to talk about the current state of the country, caused by the failures of George W. Bush's government with the guy sitting just behind him.
This is one of those times (now I have two, including 9/11) where I will always remember where I was and how it made me feel. Don't get me wrong, I am a cynic at heart. Times are incredibly uncertain. I feel trust for my government for the first time, though, and at this pivotal moment both in history and in my own life that is comforting. A time when someone I care about is joining the military, when I have to live paycheck to paycheck, I'm trying to start a life in NYC soon, the environment is deteriorating and education is in shambles it feels good to trust the person making decisions wants the best for the people of America, not narrow interests. So where was I? I was sitting on my couch watching it live on MSNBC holding Jason's hand, and as he sang along with the Navy Seals choir, I thought about our future.
I apologize in advance for this being all over the place, my mind is in a million different places. I probably should have and typically would have mulled these thoughts for longer before trying to share but I have to communicate this now, while I feel the way I do.
Yo Yo Ma performed a song (along with other incredible musicians) composed for this day that really did the seemingly impossible by meeting the greatness of this historic occasion. I started off solemn and slow, sad even, then picks up to the most uplifting beautiful music I believe I've ever heard. Perhaps I'm looking too much into it, but it certainly could be a metaphor for our current solemn and slow state, and the shift that has occurred, Barack Obama uplifting the mood of the country. The inaugural poem by Elizabeth Alexander was equally awe-inspiring. A few of my favorite lines included "We encounter each other with words" and "What if the mightiest word is love?". I can't wait to read it. This is such a tremendous time to experience. I find it true that extraordinary times in history produce extraordinary art, literature, and music and for the first time in my lifetime I feel like America is contributing something substantial to the arts.
Exceptional times also produce exceptional leaders. Hearing Barack quote Lincoln, "... that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.", Barack adding, "So it has been, so it must be with this generation." It gave me goosebumps. These are the times history books are made of. We keep saying that we choose change, but I feel like to bounce back from this terrible recent history hope and virtue are the only choice we have. I have said before that there is no question that it will be different for the youngest minority Americans growing up with a multiracial man being the most powerful man in the world. I had a British professor once who told me that he notices growing up with women in political power (Margaret Thatcher and Elizabeth II). There was much less room for sexism in the UK when the two most influential people were women, just as there will be much less room for racism now that the highest elected official isn't white.
Side note: It must have taken a great deal of courage for Obama to talk about the current state of the country, caused by the failures of George W. Bush's government with the guy sitting just behind him.
This is one of those times (now I have two, including 9/11) where I will always remember where I was and how it made me feel. Don't get me wrong, I am a cynic at heart. Times are incredibly uncertain. I feel trust for my government for the first time, though, and at this pivotal moment both in history and in my own life that is comforting. A time when someone I care about is joining the military, when I have to live paycheck to paycheck, I'm trying to start a life in NYC soon, the environment is deteriorating and education is in shambles it feels good to trust the person making decisions wants the best for the people of America, not narrow interests. So where was I? I was sitting on my couch watching it live on MSNBC holding Jason's hand, and as he sang along with the Navy Seals choir, I thought about our future.