in 6 days...

i have a couple different thoughts going through my head as we head toward the inauguration of our 44th president. one can be summed up in the simple word of "excitement". it's the 1st time in my life i am actually excited about our new president. i don't know if you voted for him, or if you agree with him, or if even now you haven't figured that out. but i know i am looking forward to january 20th, 2009 when president-elect barack obama becomes president barack obama.

i wonder where he will lead this country in the next 4 years. i wonder what changes he will bring about that will strengthen our economy. i wonder how his example and leadership will help erase some of the racist mentalities that exist not only here in the states, but internationally. i wonder what kinds of things he and soon-to-be 1st lady michelle obama's daughters will glean from experiencing this unique event. i hope they come out of it as strong world leaders in their own rights.

all of this wondering is laced with a sense of joy. that we may see some new unique things from this young president. this president who not only knows about new technologies, but uses them extremely well.

the other thought i have revolves around feeling conflicted. conflicted in the sense that, although prez-elect obama did succeed, that our country still has a lot of issues it needs to work through. as i type this, nashville is 8 days away from voting on it's "english-only referendum". a referendum, that if approved by voters on january 22, will make it completely legal for all government documents, proceedings, etc to be done in english only. to put it simply, i'm not a fan of this. it's another step toward negating the many cultures, ethnicities and backgrounds that exist in nashville. it's also a referendum that seems to be aimed at the "inconvenience" of the average english-speaker of having to "work through" the non-english portions of documents, etc. the united states exists because people came here from other countries to live and breathe together, to find their dreams. these referendums go against that. and yet we have voted in a president who is the embodiment of all of that, the diversity that this country needs to embrace even more.