Today has been a long time coming and I'm so ready. This nation, collectively, is so, so ready.
May we all be as happy with President Obama in 8 years as we are today, if not more so. He will not be a perfect president. He will make decisions with which I, and many of you, may disagree. But I do trust that he will be a wise leader, that his decisions will be driven by a respect for the rights of the American people, that he will be right far more than he is wrong. I believe that he will seek out advice rather than blazing a stubborn path of going it alone. I'm looking forward to seeing what he makes of his administration and feel as though we all have a stake in it.
Last night, I went to the Planned Parenthood Bon Voyage, Bush! party and signed up to be on the Activist Council. It felt really good to be in a room with such intense energy and optimism for the future, where speakers were proud to be community organizers and ready for change. We were asked how many of us had volunteered for the campaign and over half of the hands in the room went up.
In a few days, I have a meeting for the rape crisis advocacy program that I joined, so we can check in with each other and tidy up business items before we take our first shifts next month. Two other Rape Crisis Advocates were at the event with me and it felt really great to have formed friendships with some awesome women over the course of our three-month training. I didn't start doing volunteer work for the social dividends--and if I were to do so, I probably would've picked a role where I wouldn't be volunteering by myself in the middle of the night--but it's an awesome perk. We're nervous about our first calls, but we know that it's important work that we're doing and we have each other for support along the way.
There are so many ways to get involved. Yes, we got the right guy in the White House for a change, but the work doesn't end there. Choose your battles and fight them hard. Find the causes you support and work for them. Give your time when you can make it, give your money when you can afford to. Find a population that matters to you and work on their behalf to make this world a better place. I know we're in a hard recession, but there's always a way to make a difference.
This is our time. Own it.