Today Was a Good Day...

I said I would write everyday and so I am writing. But if I hadn't made the commitment I probably would have skipped it today. Because today? Today is just a day I want to wash over me. 

I want to soak it in. 

I want to appreciate the feeling of it. 

There was an actual sense of relief when Vice President Harris and then President Biden took their oaths of office. A relaxation of the soul. The tired and worn out cliché is releasing a breath you didn't know you were holding. The problem with that is I was very aware I had been holding it. 

But I don't think even knowing that I had been tense. Even knowing that I had been worried and holding my breath. Even then I was surprised by the instant feeling of relief. 

Because it's not going to be an easy fix.

We are in the middle of a pandemic.

We have a not insignificant number of people who honestly believe that the election was rigged. That they had something stolen from them.

We have a large group of Qanon right now having to decide if they let go of the conspiracy theories now that none of it came to fruition or if they double down and get even more embedded in it. 

And along with that we have other groups of extremists (White Supremacists especially) who are preying on all of those disappointed and angry Q people and trying to recruit them to their ideology.

It's not going to be easy to get back to where we thought we were. 

And we need to do more than get back, we need to get past that as well.

We really need to address the healthcare problem. The income inequality problem. The racial injustice problem. And so many other problems. 

But today I don't want to think about that. Not really. Not much. 

Today I want to remember starting to tear up just watching then Vice President Elect Harris and her husband walk down the steps in the Capitol building to take their places on the dais. Then actual tears when Lady Gaga sang the National Anthem and turned to the flag and gestured on "Still there" remembering that two weeks ago a mob tore down our flag and tried to raise their own. I wasn't expecting to be moved like that. I'm not a big rah rah patriotic person, but boy, it moved me. 

I want to remember the poet Amanda Gorman and her beautiful reading. Her wonderful words and her graceful hands as she recited her own work. And know that she has told me to mark 2036 on my calendar as the election she will be running in for President. Amazing young woman. 

And I want to think about how I feel right now. Knowing that when I go to sleep tonight a different President will be sleeping the White House. A different temperament. A different style. And I want to hold on to that peace. 

Just for another day at least. 

So I wouldn't have written today if I hadn't committed to it. 

And now I'm going to go back to soaking in more of the day. 

Deep breath...relax...for now.