I wouldn't say that we are having 'exciting times' right now in the Sjolseth House. We are on the cusp of PHENOMENALLY exciting times when the baby makes The Arrival. (Mostly, you'll find me laying around right now. I'm either seriously pathetic or doing an excellent job. I vote---excellent job.)
I am talking about the fact we are experiencing exciting times right now, in this world, in our greater community.
A record number of people have registered to vote and have voted early. (Maybe we, as civic minded citizens, can inspire our Congress people and Senators to show up to all their voting opportunities, too.) We have the opportunity to voice our beliefs and take an active part in shaping another period of time.
Though economically things aren't peachy, we have the opportunity to rise above it, get creative, and figure out how to have peace in these often turbulent times.
We have the opportunity to find happiness in the small things and on a daily basis. Often this necessitates making a concerted effort as so much of what we hear is negative or disheartening. Putting more effort into it probably means we acknowledge blessings that we hadn't recognized previously.
I wrote up a post on my experiences around 9/11 and never published it. Living in Boston, at the time, and having friends who lived in NYC with family members in NYC, it was a fairly traumatic time. But, this excerpt is related: I started really thinking about what kind of society, culture, and daily life I was bringing my baby in . . . how can I support my baby to learn from and make active differences for the better (I hope). I worried a bit if my baby is a girl. Everyone is always defining the female's role--placing expectations and preconceived notions of what a "good girl/woman" is. I decided that since I have been able to navigate this existence for myself and am at peace with who I am that I can teach my baby girl those same skills. I can support my baby girl by teaching her to surround herself with those who love her and want the best for her without any agenda.
Living here and now provides exciting times for women. Though finding our individual paths can be fraught with indecision, tug-of-war, and pained decision-making, it is exciting to have the chance to have a voice in my path, my life's direction, by enjoying the freedoms that men and women before me have fought to provide. I was blessed to have a mom that taught me to have a voice, taught me to speak-up, and taught me that it was okay to be myself.
I know part of my feelings today stem from how blessed I feel, particularly today.
I've been blessed to meet and work with many people with/from many different backgrounds, ideals, races, religions, income status, and etc, etc. Through those interactions, I have come to better understand what true poverty is, what true discrimination is, what true hate is, and I have seen countless times examples of pure love.
I feel so grateful to have had parents that love me despite my opinions, my bossiness [gasp, who knew?], my messy creativity, and my constant struggle through questioning. I feel so grateful to have sisters that care for me and show that in their own ways. I feel extremely blessed to have a best friend and eternal companion that puts up with my idiosyncrasies and wants me at all times to be . . . get this . . . me. I am grateful for friendships that buoy me in times of emotional and physical distress.
I am blessed to have the cutest little boy on the plant. Seriously. When my second baby arrives, I'll just bust from the combined cuteness.
I am blessed to have continual opportunities to develop my testimony and further refine my relationship with God, relying on Him when there are situations/circumstances that I don't understand---to determine what path to take, what response to give.
Thus ends the coherent thought process that I have right now, however abruptly, which I blame on fatigue.
