This Is What Hope Feels Like

I don't think that President Elect Obama is going to turn this country into a utopia on January 21st. I also don't think that he is going to be able to accomplish everything he wants to accomplish immediately. I do think, however, that his leadership is going to be something we have never seen before. I've learned a few things during this election season that I didn't know before:

• People who are on the absolute opposite side of the political spectrum from me, at their most basic level, want the same things for their kids that I want for the kids in my life.

• It is okay to take a moment and feel this hope, and enjoy it, before thinking about what it really means that so many scary propositions and amendments that curtail my personal liberty were passed - we'll talk about those next week.

• I believe that it is possible to have conversations with people who didn't vote for Obama. I believe that Obama is going to bring people into his administration who are Republicans.
  

I can't stop the tears of glee and awe over the fact that our nephews and nieces and young neighbors and young friends of color now can look at the President of the United States and really believe that anything is possible for them too. That is a hopeful feeling.