Thursday Inspiration: Yes, we can

I’m really finding myself in need of some inspiration today. I put the idea for an inspiration post on Thursday to help carry through the rest of the week, and have found that this week, it’s more timely than I could have ever imagined. This week has been one of the roughest I’ve had in awhile, but my pains this week don’t really compare to some. So, I present to you, a video that, while old, seems so much more powerful now.

The Huffington Post has an article by Will.i.am talking about why he recorded “Yes, we can”. I recommend starting the video, reading the article while the song plays, and then you’re welcome to come back and read my ramble after the cut.

Monday started with receiving notice that my best friend’s grandmother passed away rather abruptly on Sunday. I won’t go into details here out of respect for my friend and his family, but it will suffice to say that they were all very close, and that being so sudden, it’s quite hard for them all. I spent a lot of time with my friend in the more formative years of my youth, often at his grandparents’ house, and his grandma never treated me with anything but respect and love. I know how close they all were, and my heart genuinely aches for my friend and his family (who, even though he has several siblings, always treated me like family, for which I am immensely grateful).

Yesterday, I got an email that I can’t really go into in public, but it contained phrases such as “tanked economy” and “lost huge amounts of money”, and in short, it left me feeling very crushed and defeated. It’s hard to explain in detail, but really, even though it wasn’t my “huge amounts” lost, I felt like I’d lost something really important to me.

Last night, we attended my friend’s grandmother’s rosary. It was beautiful to see how many people came out, to see how many lives she touched. It helped me to realize that, for as hard as the email yesterday hit me, I’m really quite lucky to be where I am in the world right now. I’m feeling results of the economy, but really, only tangentially. I haven’t lost my job or my home, I can pay my bills on time, I can put food on the table, but most importantly, my life is full of wonderful people that I love dearly, that for whatever reason they have, also love me back. I’m a very blessed individual right now, and it would do me good to remember that more often.

As an aside to the economy, while drafting up this post, I got an email from my employer, stating that “in consideration of the current economic situation and the challenges many of our employees and their families face”, our holiday party is being canceled. I’m sure it’s the right decision and all, but I have to say, it kind of stings too. Not nearly as bad as

The one glimmer of hope that I’ve had this week was seeing Obama get the nod. Part of my vote for him was hope that he would be able to help pull us out of this economic mess. I do not think that having elected Obama is some sort of panacea, some miracle cure for the nation’s ills, but I’m more hopeful for change - for real, substantial, meaningful change - than I have been in a very long time.