As BevAnn, my dear and wonderful assistant, said in a recent post, “the party’s over.” I am home from the inauguration, so happy I went, and so sick from all of that time out in that frigid weather (ugh). I wouldn’t trade one single experience of it, though, for a few days of better health now. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I was there! (Check out my FaceBook page for more pictures than we posted here…)
The whole experience has me thinking – not only globally and nationally, but locally, too. And I mean very locally. I am thinking about myself, and some of the challenges I am facing in my current life, and wondering: If Barack Obama can rally the majority of an entire nation to move from a perspective of struggle and fear to one of responsibility and hope, then why am I still choosing struggle and fear in certain areas of my own life? What will it take for me to rally me?
Certainly, struggle and fear are more familiar than doing it differently, and certainly, there are risks involved in choosing responsibility and hope. But what’s the worst that can happen, really, if I make that shift? And even scarier is the next question: what’s the worst that can happen if I don’t?
I dashed off the following poem in my morning pages today, and I think that it’s appropriate to share here. Remember, though, that I just wrote it, and that I am taking a risk sharing it… 
I am on the cusp of either
Living a dream
Or continuing to die
From continuing to only dream it.
The fears are monstrous.
They shape-shift as I go forward,
Back, sideways. They don’t care.
Just don’t cross this line, they say.
But I have crossed lines before,
Imaginary and very real, and in doing so
Walked toward myself
On many occasions.
Baby steps, I tell those who turn to me.
Yet what do I tell myself? That
Danger, Pain, and Destitution lurk, so
Don’t go up those stairs!!!
A whole nation is changing,
Moving from struggle to responsibility,
From fear to hope. I am just one person and
I feel it’s too hard?
Explain this to me, please, anyone,
And show me the way
To be a new American:
Off the cusp of living a dream and
On to living it.
Laura Biering has an infectious zeal for coaching people who want to do
enlivening work and live inspired lives. She's fired up about the power of taking risks - great and small - and the rewards that come as a result. She's also passionate about (1) creativity and authenticity and their potential to change the world, (2) frolicking with her adorable four-legged children, and (3) retreating with those she loves at her farm in Southeast Georgia, Brinson's Race. Visit her website at True Voices.
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Laura,
Thanks for sharing your morning page poem. I feel your true present moment sentiments. I feel it is a poem that can give courage to many, and many will realize they are ready to step through fear, and into their power.
Beautiful. All your comments while there at the inauguration and after have been wonderful. Thanks for letting us see it through your eyes. Glad you could go and be a part of history.
The poem is beautiful!
“What will it take for me to rally me?
Certainly, struggle and fear are more familiar than doing it differently, and certainly, there are risks involved in choosing responsibility and hope. But what’s the worst that can happen, really, if I make that shift? And even scarier is the next question: what’s the worst that can happen if I don’t?”
Yes, Laura, yes! I’ve been pondering, chewing and working on these myself. For me, I’m finding that my tendency is to wait for some magical moment where the fear is supposed to go away, but what seems to transform the fear is to take the action in spite of the fear.
Laura, Thanks so much for sharing this poem and your comments, I believe you speak for many of us who have finally acknowledged a secret selves that has been wanting to be released for years, “Pride in being an American once again”. I know I have been hiding out as my values were not acknowledged or even spoken in the last eight years, and know I wonder how many people feel the way I did in the previous administration. I want a world where all voices, diverse and aligned can speak and we can all hear one another, a world where we really are looking out for the World, not just our Country, where we really do believe the World is our new neighborhood. I do feel hopeful and optimistic and reenergized and I thank you for speaking out…it only take one step at a time. You are taking those first steps.
Love,
Shekinah
Ladies – thanks so much for your comments. I thought I commented months ago, but I guess I thought wrong! Please know that I CHERISH your comments!