On purpose and Hope and getting started…

Should a personal story blog provide perspective on events going on in the world around us or simply add levity to counteract the drama? Or both? You’ve probably already noticed I’m going with both.

I haven’t posted in a while, but it’s not because good (and funny!) things haven’t been happening, because they certainly have.

For instance, I planned to write about a walk I took the other night with Steve, Maddy and Danny, a story I think you’ll find almost as entertaining as I do.

I hope to share some impressions from my friend Steven’s wedding, a moving and memorable event.

I wanted to write about the simple act of kindness in friendship and my gratefulness for Suzanne (who turns our teenage-rearing problems into hilarious stories, and who buys me hard-to-find Tove Jansson books and fresh croissants from Bakery Nouveau) and Nona (who recently drove me all the way to Ocean Shores and back in one day, just to pick up my laptop, and even provided homemade snacks, an attentive and discerning ear, and her own car for the trip!) and Anjelica and Emily (who make it so easy for me to be with them that no matter how many months go by I can still settle in for an evening of Firehouse Red, good stories, and belly-aching laughs that make me feel young again) and Lisa (who calls just to ask if I’d like to see a movie and persists with the planning around our busy schedules until it happens). Good people, good friends.

It’s hard to write about the good times, though, amidst all the bad things that are happening. The latest flooding in western Washington was sobering. We drove through the devastation on Highway 12 from McLeary to Elma and beyond, and witnessed boats tied up to front porches, livestock standing forlornly in drowned pastures, houses surrounded by muddy havoc. I hear daily reports of home foreclosures, financial ruin, and layoffs that come increasingly closer to home. I watch as new and angry outbursts of violence and retaliation erupt around the world. In my coursework for school I read about failed social justice programs and misguided public policy. Things seem pretty bleak.

And yet, is there Hope?

Tomorrow people will look up for a moment and focus on the changing of the guard. All eyes will be on a man who has promised much and, it seems, may have the capacity to deliver. Our nation’s future and our confidence rest on the ideas and courage of this man.

Or do they? And should they? Many of the problems we’re currently facing are a result of our own indifference and lack of care in our own affairs and those of people around us. Can we each honestly say we’ve been diligent and thoughtful with our learning, our buying, our saving, our helping of a neighbor? I’m afraid I can’t.

It is time for difficult decisions and broadening horizons. An aggressive agenda for progress and unity has been set. We will watch how our new President handles the inevitable political maneuverings for compromise that will attempt to pull him to one side or another. But it is we who believed him, we who elected him, and we who will now have to help him.

Be strong, Mr. Obama, in your resolve to be a President for us all, for a United States of America.

It likely won’t be quick, it certainly won’t be easy, and it may not be exactly what we Hoped for, but we will help you get started.