Keeping the Dream

In honor of the Chinese New Year and the Year of the Ox, I would like to share a touching video about a few people who decided to make a difference to one family.

Sometimes, we become overwhelmed by all the things that need to be done to make this world a better place. But we needn’t do everything. We just need to do our thing.

The ox represents stubborn persistence. I like that when it’s applied to what’s good and true. May we be just as tenacious in our ideals.

Many times it’s not a matter of not having enough, but using the “enough” you already have efficiently.

This goes for things such as time and energy, as well as money and material resources. It’s like having a file cabinet with research notes, descriptions of characters, lines for lyrics, drafts of projects, and creative ideas, all thrown in there. You know they’re in there somewhere…

Or maybe you forgot, and so you spend time reinventing the wheel again.

I have enough. There’s enough in my file drawers for several projects at the very least. And there’s enough time, money and network for me to, if not reach my goals, definitely make significant progress toward them.

But more than that, there’s also something else.

What about other things we misplace? What if, in addition to our notes, our ideas, our keys and glasses, amidst the clutter of our doubts, fears and apathy, we’ve misplaced the very stuff we’re made of that is waiting to take us to success?

Like specific strengths, talents and skills – perhaps our motivation, our tenacity – hidden somewhere among the jumble of negative messages and excuses we listen to?

I bet if we did a little bit of housecleaning, we would be amazed at what we would find.

Not only in our overstuffed file cabinets, but within ourselves.

What I love most isn’t just the message about hope, but the very clear call for responsibility and accountability – from all of us. It’s an invitation and a challenge that I take to heart.

I’ve never been so moved by a politician before, but then, his love for words and the beautiful images he creates with them, makes him an artist, as well. And I guess, that’s what artists do.

Touch people.

For years, I’ve had a natural and acquired distaste for politics. It shouldn’t be, but past experience advocating the rights of women showed me that politics and service were often at odds.

Today the gap between them became a little smaller. I’m still filled with wonder over today’s inauguration. There’s so much to think on, to ponder in one’s heart. It is with delight that I post our president’s first proclamation from The White House Blog.

NATIONAL DAY OF RENEWAL AND RECONCILIATION, 2009

– - – - – - -

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

As I take the sacred oath of the highest office in the land, I am humbled by the responsibility placed upon my shoulders, renewed by the courage and decency of the American people, and fortified by my faith in an awesome God.

We are in the midst of a season of trial. Our Nation is being tested, and our people know great uncertainty. Yet the story of America is one of renewal in the face of adversity, reconciliation in a time of discord, and we know that there is a purpose for everything under heaven.

On this Inauguration Day, we are reminded that we are heirs to over two centuries of American democracy, and that this legacy is not simply a birthright — it is a glorious burden. Now it falls to us to come together as a people to carry it forward once more.

So in the words of President Abraham Lincoln, let us remember that: “The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim January 20, 2009, a National Day of Renewal and Reconciliation, and call upon all of our citizens to serve one another and the common purpose of remaking this Nation for our new century.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twentieth day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.

These words grabbed me.

…call upon all of our citizens to serve one another…

To serve one another. What a beautiful thing to proclaim! How will I celebrate this momentous day? My daughter and I were going to go to a party, but we’re doing something else instead.

With snacks, sodas and a good dose of celebratory joy, we will embark on the most serious task of taking those general words and mapping out the specific steps to honor them.

I take his words to heart, because I believe he speaks from his. And today, mine is singing!