Reboot...

I've been reading United, Cory Booker's autobiographical manifesto, or as he puts it, "...about my political and personal awakening." He caught my attention when he gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention last year. I loved what he said and the passion with which he said it. When I ran across his book this fall, I immediately bought it and then buried it for a month or two under the pile of other books I wanted to read when I got a chance.

What prompted me to pick it up now, was a discussion I had at Thanksgiving, during which I brought up his name as one of the people Hillary Clinton shortlisted for VP. I thought that if she'd chosen him, she might have won - we'll never know, of course; that was my speculation and nothing more. I also said that I thought that history would see Barack Obama as one of our great presidents, along with Abraham Lincoln and FDR.

Presidential portrait from barackobama.com

(You can listen to the entire speech or read it at: https://constitutioncenter.org/amoreperfectunion/)

The person with whom I was talking was convinced that the only reason I supported either of those men was because they were black politicians.  Even when I explained that my admiration for President Obama had its roots in his speech on race in Philadelphia in 2008, in which I first had a glimpse of the breadth of his vision, my cousin was skeptical. Then-Senator Obama took what was in many ways a very personal issue, the controversial statements made by his pastor, and addressed that issue by acknowledging their relationship while also asserting that his pastor did not speak for him. Then he placed the situation in the context of race relations in our country, and spoke about the importance of talking about what was uncomfortable and difficult to discuss. I knew that even if I didn't agree with everything he did, Barack Obama would be a president I could trust to act with integrity and intention.

That depth and breadth of mind that I loved in Barack Obama is what I glimpsed in Cory Booker at the DNC last year. It has nothing to do with the color of one's skin. It has everything to do with who they are as human beings, and how they articulate their beliefs and their vision.

I'm only on page 47, and already I've highlighted a number of things that resonate for me, not so much on a political level as on a human level. This is the passage that is reverberating through me these days, and it's a paraphrasing of what his mother said to him:

...the world needs the full measure of your faith, your courage, your boldest thoughts, your most inspiring dreams.

Right in the center of that you'll find the word "courage."

It takes courage to share the full measure of your faith with the world. It takes courage to share your boldest thoughts with the world. And it takes courage to share your most inspiring dreams with the world.

The world can be brutal to those who open themselves and share freely. And that is the only thing that can change the world. No trying to protect yourself,  no pulling punches. Just - this is it, this is the best I have to offer.

This is the hardest thing anyone, including a writer, can do. And it's also the thing that is essential to writing something that will change lives, including your own. There is a visceral experience when we are courageous. It is the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual experience of being aware and present with our fear, and moving forward in the face of it, whether in words or actions.

This is the time of year when we often take stock of ourselves, and start thinking about what we'll do different in the new year. When I read those words, I find myself feeling the need to reboot as a writer. What that will mean for me, I don't know. What I do know is that courage will be the essential ingredient in the mix.

Take care,

Doc