As Political As I Will Get

I love how much of an outlet this blog was for me in the beginning. I came to rely on the fact that it was always here for me when things were headed straight downhill. The mood to write often came when I was headed in that direction. But not so much anymore. I hope.

On inauguration night I was in class, but there was flittering buzz of excitement in the room. The hubs has never really "got it" though, so I was soaking it in where I could. Though I wish I'd been able to hear the words from Obama himself, I resorted to reading his speech the next morning. Some critics thought it somber. I once again replenished hope for some changes upcoming in my personal life that on the larger scale might seem a speck, and then for the promise of changes for a nation floundering in many ways, America and her people. Obama's words fell with heavy meaning on my ears...heavy, but not somber:

I think of the soldiers.

"As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages.

We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all."

I think of my role as a citizen.

"Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task."

I think of my children and their future.

"Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations."

-Barack Obama

Finally, it puts words to what my generation is feeling. Hope we can grasp and hold onto. That we are not stuck in our individual situations and that we must all be willing to change some to change the world. We don't live in the same times as our great-grandparents, or honestly even that of our grandparents.

"For the world has changed, and we must change with it." -Barack Obama