A couple thoughts about President Elect Obama

Barack Hussein Obama will be the 44th president of the United States
of America.  I felt strangely confident that he would win, so I didn’t
have any anxiety about that on election day, but I was (and still am)
incredibly excited about this new chapter in this country’s history.
Besides being completely enveloped by the rush of joy at the bar where
my husband and I watched the election results, I was elated to see the
pictures and video of people all over the world celebrating Obama’s
win. Take that in for a moment. People across the globe have been
wearing Obama t-shirts, making up songs and dances about him and
praying for his ascent into the White House. When is the last time the
whole world was so invested, so enthused (100,000-strong crowd in
GERMANY?!)  about an American president? Never.

There also has never (in my lifetime anyway) been a president who was
able to mobilize the American people in such large numbers. McCain was
right about Obama being a celebrity, he absolutely gets rock star
attention, but it’s not for doing drugs or flashing the paparazzi.
Obama has so captured the attention of the world because he appeals to
our higher selves, the parts of us that believe in creating a more
perfect union and believe that we can actually do something towards
that goal. Obama said we are who we have been waiting for and he’s
right.

So many of us have invested so much into his campaign that we feel
like WE are moving into the White House.  In a way we are. Obama is
definitely yoked with (and lifted by) the hopes and dreams of millions
of people who are now looking at him as the ultimate living symbol of
inspiration. We’ve all worked so hard to get him there and now we need
to work just as hard WITH him to get this country on the right track.
We can’t get lazy and expect Obama to become a magician and solve all
of our problems.

For that reason, I have decided to start a new blog series entitled
“Towards A More Perfect Union.”  In it, I will focus on a particular
goal such as empowering youth fore example and I will also have
practical objectives we achieve to reach our goal such as becoming a
mentor, hanging out with your nieces/nephews/cousins, etc.  I’ll keep
doing the series as long as I keep coming up with stuff and as long as
I feel so inspired to do so. The series will hopefully be a guide for
all of us to be the best Americans, the best world citizens and the
best people we can be.