I think there are more than enough political blogs floating around, so I'll keep those sorts of opinions to myself. But I will say that this is an exciting time and regardless of outcome, I can't wait to see the papers tomorrow. No matter who wins, tomorrow we will have a new leader and that newness is exhilarating. After all my travels and misadventures abroad, I can honestly say that I am so happy to call America home (no matter our shortcomings or flaws) and in my blissfully idyllic mind, I look forward to the possibilities of the next four years. I also look forward to about August of 2009, when -no matter who wins or who we all voted for today- we can go back to bitching and moaning about whatever jackass we put in the White House.
Seriously though, I also hope that this election marks the end of apathy. Somewhere along the way, we'd lost our gusto for political involvement. I feel that maybe a bit of it has been rediscovered over this long, treacherous, frustrating, magnificent flying circus of a campaign. Most of all, I really hope my generation remains committed to learning about what's happening in our world, here and abroad.
Of course, I hope my pony wins (that's the point of voting, right?) but at the same time, it isn't the end all be all. Politicians have a tough job, but I also don't think they're who brings real change to us. Yes, they are visible and have clout, yes they pass policy. But without sounding like a Hallmark-after-school-special, it's real people that make real change. Ordinary people dedicated to extraordinary dreams...which are usually just regular people doing small things.
So I don't really know what I'm trying to say, or why I'm even saying it. But these are the people that will change the world:
People like Paul Potts, who sold mobile phones but has an incredible talent for opera and shared it with the world. Here is a man who speaks humanity: that shyness and uncertainty covering the bittiest seed of hope that he is something greater.
Or Marla Ruzicka, a spunky California blonde who graduated college and became a humanitarian working in the Middle East. At the age of 29, when a suicide bomber ended her life in Baghdad, her last words were, "I am alive."
And Matt Harding. Traveling to 42 different countries in 14 months, he reminds me of how it should be. That no matter who you are or where, it's always funny to see a white guy dancing...badly. He reminds me that we're not so very different.
So those are the crazy ones. Little people who contribute. Who do something. And people probably question them, say they're out of their minds...and maybe they are. Would that be such a bad thing? I mean, only an insane person could take a piece of steel in their hand and envision the Golden Gate Bridge. Picasso must have been completely mad to look at a blank canvas and see Guernica. The folks that can sit in silence and hear a symphony. Or Michaelangelo, who didn't see a piece of marble, but saw David inside somewhere...and toiled and worked and chipped away until he showed him to the rest of us.
These are the people that change the world. They are who inspire.
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