Obama Inauguration: Today is about possibility

Tomorrow about responsibility.

There is euphoria in the air. Hundreds of thousands from all over the United States have gathered in DC making this, as the newscasters call it “the journey” to witness this day in history. There are many who have traveled from outside the US. A group from the Bahamas calling themselves the Bahama Obama Mamas. People hugging, singing, cheering. Millions watching the broadcast from all over the world. From a city called Obama in Japan, to Indonesia, Hong Kong, India, Australia, Middle East, Europe there is much vested globally in this historic inauguration.

I am reminded of David Whyte and his insightful poem:

Loaves and Fishes
This is not
the age of information.

This is not
the age of information.

Forget the news,
and the radio,
and the blurred screen.

This is the time
of loaves and fishes.

People are hungry
and one good word is bread
for a thousand.
-- David Whyte from The House of Belonging ©1996 Many Rivers Press

One good word is bread for a thousand. This is not about race, religion, politics, class or caste. This is about humanity uniting to save the world aligning under the banner of hope and possibility. This is about belief that “we did not inherit this earth from our ancestors. We have borrowed it from our children.” 2008 was a wake up call that we have to collaborate fiercely to co create the new world. It is about the opportunity that today holds for the future. It is about belief. Yes, we can.

Believe

In Loaves and Fishes
In Silver Conches

Recall
Faded dreams
Unused gifts

Reveal
Beauty
Truth

In one
In all
Indivisible
---Shaku Selvakumar © 2008

Looking back...moving forward

Strangely enough I don’t have any resolutions for 2009 save one…to simplify. By the time last year came to a close, I was running ragged, exhausted and worn out. 2008 for moi, was the year of the hamster. Spinning on a treadmill trying to play some sort of weird catch up. There was no balance.

December came by and I hugged my vacation days close to my heart hoping to complete a hundred pending tasks, read a few books and rearrange everything. Instead, I just let go. I did what I could and everything else fell by the wayside.

I didn’t buy the furniture. I didn’t finish my mailing. I didn’t paint those rooms. And I didn’t feel guilty. I started a list of things to do and I threw it away.

Unlike summer vacations, winter holidays are about closure and preparation for the year ahead. For some of us, hibernation is a good way to prepare for the new year. Many will remember ‘08 as a year of global transformation. If you think of Hercules cleaning the Aegean stables, you will understand that the muck has to be cleared out. Anything built on shifting sands will not stand the test of the future. That much we know.

Personally speaking, 2008 was like a lightening rod catching sparks and passing tremors. I moved jobs within the company. We renovated our old home and bought a new home that came with a complimentary posse of hens and roosters. The kids went to new schools after dramatically bidding adieu to familiar faces. Family that played together and stayed together. Ike came to Texas and left some serious destruction. Palin scared me but Obama won. Yes, we can. Summer vacation and winter staycation. Mumbai hurt and we were horrified. We became the proud sponsors for Nayantara, a 14 year old Bengali girl through Children's International.

And then there is 2009 which is about accountability, responsibility and careful consideration. It is the year of the squirrel. It is also about hope. Hope for peace, for resurrection, for forgiveness. So as I write this, I have decided that along with simplifying my life, I will also continue to be unabashedly sentimental and mushy. And no…I don’t intend to hug trees. Maybe next year :)