Tag: Amanda Gorman
Celebrate the Gift!
For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it.
If only we’re brave enough to be it. –Amanda Gorman, “The Hill We Climb”
I mentioned in the Four Promises and a Gift post that my friend Kelli’s gift was the impetus for the blog theme of the week (now two weeks). She dropped off a sunflower-themed care basket filled with sunflower goodies— a sunflower notebook, a sunflower mug with an Amanda Gorman’s quote [above], chamomile tea, raw local honey, and of course, chocolate. I was touched by her thoughtfulness, but what moved me to tears was the beautiful note she included which expressed admiration and appreciation for the gifts of beauty and hope I share with the world despite the “many storms of loss” I have weathered.
The gift of Kelli’s words reminded me that what I do matters to others. I’m out here tossing beauty about because it’s what I need to do for own my sanity and healing, not paying [much] attention to its impact. Kelli’s words—written and verbal—beckoned me to appreciate and celebrate my gifts and more importantly the gift of who I am in spite of—and maybe because of—what I’ve been through.
Those losses Kelli referred to in her note concretized the reality that life is fragile, and there are no guarantees. I don’t have to be in this world at all, let alone be here sharing love and light and beauty. So, it’s not that I don’t see the value of my gifts. It’s that I am clear about Who gave me these gifts. I thank God for life and for using me to light up life for others. I thank God for the gift of me.
We all have gifts. We all have that little something in us–a spark–that propels us to do small things, big things, in-between things that lighten, gladden, and stir the hearts of others. It is part of what makes life colorful, beautiful, and meaningful.
I hope you know you are a gift, a treasure. You bless, inspire, and move others just by being who you are. Celebrate that and the gifts your presence bring to the world.
Celebrate the gift of you!
Sunflowers for Inauguration Day!
And yet, the dawn is ours before we knew it.
Somehow we do it.
Somehow we weathered and witnessed a nation
that isn’t broken but simply unfinished.–from “The Hill We Climb,” Amanda Gorman, National Youth Poet Laureate
If you haven’t heard, Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr., the 46th President of the United States, was sworn in today. And history was made today when Kamala Devi Harris, the very first woman and very first Black woman was sworn in as Vice President of the United States. Based on recent events in the USA, it’s hard to believe I bore witness to this bit of history.
I am excited and hopeful and relieved (all adjectives my students used to express their feelings about the inauguration).
One of my students expressed hesitation toward hope. She commented about the propensity [of many Americans] to raise the alarm and fight the good fight but then lapse into inaction when the major crisis is over. Her concern is valid, but the insurrection on Capitol Hill a couple of weeks ago gave us a glimpse of what can happen if we do not guard our democracy fiercely. “The Hill We Climb,” the inaugural poem written and performed by Amanda Gorman, the very first National Youth Poet Laureate, poignantly emphasized this point.
We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it,
Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.
And this effort very nearly succeeded.
But while democracy can be periodically delayed,
It can never be permanently defeated.
In this truth, in this faith, we trust.
For while we have our eyes on the future,
history has its eyes on us.
Though we are flawed and prone to temporary amnesia, I am hopeful that we will accept the charge Gorman [implicitly] issued through her poem. It is up to each individual citizen of the United States to protect and uphold democracy.
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