i am seriously sleep-deprived and have a lot of other things to catch up on here, but i couldn't let today go by without commenting on its gravity.we don't normally have access to streaming video at the office, but today, in honor of the inauguration, the rules were lifted. unfortunately, eight billion other people were also trying to watch the festivities on CNN.com and MSNBC.com, and the streaming video was more like hiccuping, frequently-stalling video. there was mild panic among my co-workers because all of us were hell-bent on watching the 44th president sworn into office. luckily there was a television in a conference room a few floors up, so we made a beeline for it.
despite the fact that no one could get the sound to work on the flat screen, and we had to settle for listening to the audio via NPR on someone's radio (which was about five seconds behind the digital image we were watching on screen), we were at least able to witness history. i got goosebumps several times during the ceremony (even though the conference room was sweltering—too many people were crammed in there, but no one complained) and felt both lighter and more pensive once it was over.
maybe it's just relief from knowing the Bush era is over or maybe it's my sunny, optimistic outlook reemerging after years of dormancy, but i was really believing, listening to President Obama speak today, that he can change the world. that we all can. i found myself silently vowing to do better. to get frustrated a little less easily, to be thankful a little more often, to extend a hand rather than put up a wall.
i sound like the idealists i scoffed at a year ago when the Democratic race was still wide open. and yet now, with the state of affairs in our country and the world, with a change now officially, wonderfully in place, i want to be idealistic. god knows Obama has got his work cut out for him, so many messes to clean up and fences to mend, but it's still a fresh start in many ways. it won't be easy, but it can be new, it can be different.
it was silent in the conference room during the ceremony, except for the times when we all applauded—when it was announced, just afternoon (and before the swearing-in) that the powers had officially shifted from the Bush administration to the Obama administration—and after Obama had taken his oath, and after he finished his inspiring speech. there were no high-fives, no whoops or hollers.
but you could feel the relief—the relaxing of shoulders and necks—the quiet hope that finally has a substantial place in our lives and in our world, and a leader who is on our same page.
mb
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