Godspeed, Mr. President

Watching televison coverage of  Barack Obama setting out on his historic railway journey to Washington on Saturday was a bit like watching Ulysses riding off into battle.  The days ahead will undoubtedly be difficult and dangerous, but, cheers from adoring crowds shivering in the cold alongside these train tracks dispelled some of that fear and distilled it into excitement and promise.  One tv news reporter, describing the thousands of people lining the route, remarked that they had come to "wish this man Godspeed."   I've always liked this saying.  According to Wikipedia, it's a 13th century "expression of respect and good will addressed to someone about to embark on a journey or daring endeavor."  It's particularly appropriate to this occasion for the task before the 44th President of the United States is certainly one daring endeavor, a pilgrimage toward the re-creation of our nation.

Enormous expectations are heaped on the shoulders of this new administration-putting the brakes on the downfall of our economy, stabilizing perilous foreign relations, rebuilding domestic policy and programs, all while bringing social and racial cohesion to the nation.  While I have no illusions that one man can undo the damage that has been done in the past eight (or more) years, I have hopes that he can make a good beginning at the process. 

Obama's  charismatic manner of speaking, which is both erudite yet down to earth, is greatly touted.  Much is also made of his ability to "fire people up," stir people to action, inspire them to think and act in new ways.  He certainly capitalized on this talent during his campaign, and continues to do so in these days leading up to his inaugaration.  I believe this ability is one of his greatest strengths as a leader, and will prove to be the most powerful tool he has in helping to restore the United States of America.  As the greatest teachers, team coaches, conductors. and CEO's learned long ago, a leader is nothing without the support, respect, and dedication of his students, players, and employees.  An organization is worthless without the support, respect, and dedciation of its members.  A country is lost without the support, respect, and loyalty of its citizens. 

Obama's "job one" (at least on an emotional level) appears to be inspring this belief in the American people, this conviction that our country can be great once again, can "fulfill the promise of its founding fathers," and that we can, one and all, live to reap the benefits.  It's more than just words, as any coach who has faced a losing team at half-time will tell you.  Giving people belief in the ability of a positive outcome gives them the power to make it happen.

Listening to Obama speak on Saturday, listening to him exhort us all to come together in a sense of common purpose, inviting us to be part of his place in history, urging us to embrace our "power to make the world new," it felt as if he were wishing us Godspeed in return.  For aren't we all about to set out on this journey together, run onto this playing field with banners flying, march into battle with weapons at the ready? 

Godspeed, my fellow citizens.

Godspeed, Mr. President.

crossposted in the Carnival of Family Life at Colloquium

Honestly!

Myrthe, at The Armenian Odar Reads, honored me with this award, presented to bloggers who "are honest and speak their minds in a thoughtful manner."    This one comes with an assignment - you are to list 10 honest things about yourself.  We are encouraged to "have some fun with this," meaning, I suppose, to be candid, but also good humored. 

In an attempt to get my writing mind back in gear after three days in Las Vegas (more about that will be forthcoming), here are 10 honest things about me:

1. I say "yes" without thinking much too often, which gets me in trouble time and again, in every kind of situation you could imagine.   Plus, I generally tend to act without thinking things through "logically" (as my husband would advise), which causes me to do things I often regret;
2. I'm extremely claustrophobic.  I have trouble quelling panic attacks in traffic jams, I need to sit in an aisle seat in auditoriums and on airplanes.  I break out in a cold sweat when I see an MRI machine on some medical show - if I ever have to undergo one of those tests, I'll need anesthesia;
3. I don't like  hate big cities~ don't care to visit, and would never live in one;
4. I'm impatient, which is a natural correlative to #1 (or maybe it's the other way 'round);
5. I drive too fast - always have, and always will.  It's my one minor rebellion against "the establishment" (as we old hippies once referred to all restrictions imposed by a governing body).  And yes, I know it's dangerous;
6. Aside from my children, my husband, and my mother, there's no one I'd rather spend time with than my dogs;
7. I would rather be home than anywhere in the world.  I like to visit other places, but being home definitely trumps traveling every time;
8. I look for the good in people, which sometimes makes me gullible;
9. Because I'm a good listener, empathetic, and non-judgemental, I often take on the role of confidante for friends and co-workers.  Conversely, I'm rather private about my own feelings, and rarely confide personal matters to anyone but my very closest friends and family (and you).  Which leads directly to the final "honest thing..."
10. I keep feelings bottled up inside, and sometimes suffer emotional and physical consequences. 

Part II of the award assignment consists of passing this award along to other bloggers whose honesty and thoughtful expression in writing have impressed me.  Among my regular reads, here are five writers whom I find particularly skilled at "speaking their minds in an honest and thoughtful manner":

Anno

Jen

Bella Rum

June

Suzanne

Take a few minutes and go meet them - honestly, you'll be glad you did.

A Writer's Meme

A little busy work for you this week, while I'm away on a trip.

Have fun!

  What's your favourite genre of writing?

How often do you get writer's block?

How do you fix it?

Do you type or write by hand?

Do you save everything you write?

Do you ever go back to an old idea long after you abandoned it?

Do you have a  constructive critic?

Did you ever write a novel?

What genre would you love to write but haven't?

What's one genre you have never written, and probably never will?

How many writing projects are you working on right now?

Do you write for a living? Do you want to?

Have you ever written something for a magazine or newspaper?

Have you ever won an award for your writing?

What are your five favourite words?

Do you ever write based on your dreams?

Do you favour happy endings, sad endings, or cliff-hangers?

Have you ever written based on an artwork you've seen?

If you've answered all these questions, give yourselves a huge gold star and pat on the back.

Now go off and do some real writing.

Random Thoughts from the Junk Drawer of My Mind

I awoke at 4 a.m., thanks to the stimulant effect of Sudafed (which is no doubt why it's locked safely behind the counter at Walgreen's), with the usual random amalgamation of thoughts swirling in my brain.  In an attempt to clear them out once and for all, I list them (in no particular order):

1. What's the proper etiquette when you receive a text message in error?  I got a message from an unfamiliar number at 7:00 a.m., cryptically stating..."new money."   Should I text back - "wrong number?" 
2. Why -oh why oh why - does something happen every time I'm planning a trip?  We're going to LasVegas tomorrow (I know, but it's a free trip) and first I come down with a terrible cold, then we're supposed to have a blizzard (!) along with record cold temperatures while I'm gone.  Worry worry worry...about my mother and the dogs and....
3. Perhaps Number 2 above is the reason I've beginning to feel as if traveling isn't worth the bother (Gasp! I can't believe I said that)  Especially having to pack a suitcase - I'm seriously  spoiled by our trips to Florida where I have everything already there and simply board the plane with laptop and purse.
4. I made the mistake of opening my 401K statement yesterday.  Dear God...
5. Speaking of junk drawers, I think a mouse has been in mine! 

So there you have it - now that I've downloaded all these disturbing things from the recesses of my psyche, perhaps I can continue on with my day.

Or maybe going back to bed would be a better plan.

Cafe Writing -

Don’t be discouraged by a failure. It can be a positive experience. Failure is, in a sense, the highway to success, inasmuch as every discovery of what is false leads us to seek earnestly after what is true, and every fresh experience points out some form of error which we shall afterwards carefully avoid. ~John Keats

Pick at least three of the following words, and build a piece of writing around them. The form is up to you: poem, scene, flash-fic, essay, or general blog entry. discovery, experience, failure, false, highway, positive, seek, sense, true

Failure.  It's a mournful word, I think, the diphthong a ghostly moan into the final syllable.  The voice tends to fall at the end of the word, defeated. I've not had much experience with failure, for which I'm appropriately grateful.  Although, I believe it's because I seek safety, and not because I'm particularly gifted or even lucky.  I'm not a risk taker, in any sense of the word, and the highway of my life is pretty straight and narrow.

Keats is certainly not alone in the sentiments he expresses about the positive nature of failure.  Everyone from Jesus Christ to Oprah can quote chapter and verse about discovering new opportunities in the face of defeat.   I've observed this from time to time, seen people make lemonade from lemons and rebuild their lives after near destruction.  The human spirit seems indelible,  and sometimes the greater the hardship, the more magnificent the rebirth.  Like the phoenix, we rise from the ashes in golden glory.

I'm not sure I'm one of those people, and I often wonder if I would have the guts to dig myself out of a huge emotional or financial hole, to fight a deadly disease, to survive the loss of my husband or child.  When my young friend Jeff committed suicide two years ago, I looked at his mother and thought, if that were me, I'd crawl into a hole and never come out.

But most likely I wouldn't do that, I'd continue on somehow, diminished in many ways but stronger for having survived something so horrific.  There's a saying I particularly like, and you've probably heard it too...the one that goes, "a woman is like a teabag  - she gets stronger when you put her in hot water."

I know it takes patience to survive failure, to wait for things to turn around when they've gone wrong.  It also takes forgiveness, sometimes of other people who have in some way played a part in your failure, sometime forgivness of yourself, when all your best intentions and efforts still go awry. 

Mostly, it takes time for perspective to set in, and for possibility to present itself to you.

Most likely I'll someday have to discover what I'm really made of, for no one goes through life completely free of failure of one sort or another. I hope when the time comes that I'll be gifted with the good sense to create something positive from the experience, "to seek after what is true" and be able to "avoid the error" in the future.

 ~for Cafe Writing