This is not a political post. This is a human being post.
I don’t give a rip who you vote for. Well, we all know that’s not true, but that’s not what this is about. This is about her. This shining beacon of hope, always with a smile, but a knowing smile, full of wisdom and humor, grace and humility. Not to mention how she slays on the regular. She knows things. She’s seen things and she’s learned from them. She’s endured terrible criticism and flat out racist commentary that is undeserved and unwarranted, but she’s held her head high and hasn’t sunken to that level.
If I had to list women I want to emulate – be like – learn from – she would be at the very top.
I am a proud feminist and that in no way means I bash men or think that women are better than men. I simply think that women are as worthy as men and should be treated as such. I believe in smart, strong, kind, fully capable, vulnerable women and Michelle Obama is just that. I want what she has.
That speech she gave last night at the Democratic National Convention? Perfect. You can view the speech here.
“How we explain that when someone is cruel or acts like a bully, you don’t stoop to their level. No, our motto is, when they go low, we go high.”
That motto is what I’m trying to do, how I’m trying to live, and how I’m trying to raise my kids.
When they go low, we go high. OOOOF. She was speaking to us as a country, as a people, as a group collective, but really? I heard her speaking as a parent.
It’s easy to go low. It’s easy to take the ugly angry way out. To name call. To sling the muck. When adults act this way, why on earth would kids act any differently? We need to be the change. The example. The hope.
“I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves. And I watch my daughters, two beautiful, intelligent, black young women, playing with their dogs on the White House lawn. And because of Hillary Clinton, my daughters and all our sons and daughters now take for granted that a woman can be president of the United States. So, don’t let anyone ever tell you that this country isn’t great, that somehow we need to make it great again, because this right now is the greatest country on Earth.”
Hope. She gives me hope in a time when I fear losing hope for my kids. When I question what kind of world I brought them into. I fight with all my being to keep it up, but it’s so hard. It’s up to us to keep it going though. We cannot bury our heads in the sand and we cannot pretend awful things aren’t happening. We need to be the change we want to be in the world. Every damn day.
But as we are complex beings, there’s also so much good in this world. We are capable of many feelings all at once and we are capable of processing all the feelings if we let ourselves.
Guilt, shame, remorse, fear. Gratitude, joy, happiness, hope. They can all exist together in one body. It’s true. Just because I feel sorrow with world events doesn’t mean I don’t also get soaked from the floodgates of hope when I look at our kids.
Michelle Obama gives me hope. She’s helping me raise my kids with hope and kindness following in her example. Kindness always. She uses her power and position for good and I admire her greatly. I know she will go on to do great things and we will have the benefit of bearing witness. For that I am thankful.
Related:
Where do mean girls come from?
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Too Sober For This 