Today feels like hope

“I just carry hope in my heart. Hope is not a feeling of certainty that all ends well. Hope is just a feeling that life and work have meaning.” ~Vaclav Havel

Exhale. It’s Inauguration Day in America. Our long nightmare of the Trump presidency is finally over. For four years almost everyone I know has held their breath, both fearful and anxious about what the Trump administration would do next. Would our LGBTQ+ friends retain their rights? Would women continue to have agency over their own bodies? Would our black, brown, and friends of color end up the next victim of America’s racism?

These last four years have had the undertone of despair. But today feels like hope.

We’ve still got a lot of work to do. Systemic racism and white supremacy have to be dismantled. Reparations have to be made. Economic equality must be a priority. And decency, compassion, empathy, and unity must again become a part of our national discourse. But as Vaclav Havel said, hope is the feeling that our work has meaning and purpose.

It’s a new day in America. What will be do with this opportunity?