underXposed

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For the past eight years America has somehow survived taking shallow breaths. Our collective gut clenched on November 5, 2000 and has remained on 24/7 RED alert ever since. The toxic shadow of anxiety has saturated every part of our lives and poisoned our ability to relate to one another as a nation.

Obama’s victory has turned a page in our history and, at least for one night, the lightness of joy has chased that shadow away. But the battle isn’t over; it’s just beginning. The majority of power and money still remains in private hands, the economy’s health continues to decline, and so does the state of the planet. We have a gargantuan task ahead of us. Immature exclusivity and small-mindedness are still very much a part of the American landscape.

For the past fifteen months I’ve felt like a tiny leaf in a storm of digital resistance as I did my part to help expose the crimes perpetrated against us by the outgoing regime, even if what I wrote in desperation sometimes slid into the realm of conspiratorial folly. Like so many, I grasped at whatever straws I could find to fend off the lengthening shadow of fascism in America and in the world. Earlier today I considered deleting those entries that countered negativity and fear with negativity and fear because anyone who can’t sense the change in outlook, the release of tension and the potential healing of contentious divisions within this country doesn’t have a pulse. But for now I’ll keep those up to remind me of what we’ve been through and how much we have to un-do.

For example, changing the way we vote. The electoral college system may have had a purpose at one time, as well as elections in a primarily agrarian economy to take place on November 4, but that world no longer reflects us as a people. Special interests have sapped the democratic incentives of elections for far too long, and electronic voting machines are too easily hacked to favor those who are afraid of change. So, as is widely argued, it’s time for us, the American people, to ensure sweeping change of our electoral system.

But that’s just the beginning, of course. Some people call Obama a “progressive” democrat. Others call him a centrist. Whatever he is, he’s shown himself to be a man who listens to the people, which for me is incredible on its own merits, and it means that we don’t know what we think we know.

The bottom line is that Obama has for me become the model of a quiet and gracious will to change, of humble confidence and tolerance and inclusion for each of us to implement in our own lives as an example for our brothers and sisters to emulate. He and those behind him have shown through brilliant and humanistic campaign strategies what is possible.

I see what makes a true leader when I listen to Obama speak and observe his composure even under intense attack and scrutiny. A real leader doesn’t have to put on a show, doesn’t have to deceive or cheat to gain traction with the people who support him or her. A real leader simply is him or herself in every situation. A real leader models illumination from an inner conviction that includes even the least among us.

My huge doubts about everything I once took for granted about America have, after this milestone in American history, in one night transformed for me what could be. A momentous change from a timid heart and spirit to a can-do heart and spirit has opened a wide portal into the unknown rather than watch the authoritarian grip of closed doors shut in our faces. As Obama said in his victory speech, it will be a long road and a steep climb, but at least, to paraphrase what Lenny Bruce once said, For a piano to play, we need both the white keys and the black-keys. The racism that once defined American policy will be challenged on an entirely new level with upcoming generations.

Such an ideal offers the possibility that we can move forward as a nation who listens to each other as well as to those in other nations. Although the road will be rocky and filled with huge craters, Obama is giving a new and dignified tone to our journey together, one that’s way overdue, and as a blogger I intend my writing to reflect that tone (from negative to positive) from here on, and that’s an extremely welcome relief, like the lungs able to take a complete breath after opening the door to fresh air.