Oh Yes We Did!

I am so tired. LOL seriously I'm exhausted. The last 20+ months have been exhilarating, worrisome, and an amazing experience. I didn't get to do as much for the Obama campaign as I wanted as our two young children take priority, but I did do all I could and my husband did a ton.

What an amazing experience. I am still sorting through all of my thoughts on it all and want to write about it but until I manage to do that I just want to say how proud I am of everyone who worked their butts off to make this happen. We did it. We. This was not a top down campaign. Things worked from the bottom up as much as from the top down. Chicago coordinated us but many of us, even in the context of working through our local offices, were self-directed. This was especially true in the primary and not as much in the general election.

We now live in a country with millions of new community organizers who are fired up and ready to go. What a beautiful day this is!

A trillion actions pass it on

Hi! We made history. When Barack Obama was elected President today it was because of a trillion small acts from millions of Americans over the past 2 years that has brought us to this moment.

Every little thing we do has an impact be it big or small. Every little thing can matter a great deal. A little push is all it takes to set off a chain of dominos.

Each of you has contributed to this moment in history. We've each given what we could. Please take a moment to reflect and write down some of the things you did that mattered most to you, or write down everything you did. It doesn't matter. Then, pass this on to everyone you know who contributed time, energy, and/or money to this effort so they can be included.

Please cc meltzer7@charter.net . We'd like to see how the list grows.

Jess in MA: Phonebanking, postcard writing/organizing, event hosting, and lots of other stuff.
Jonathan Meltzer (Berlin MA) Standing in the rain with 700 other volunteers listening to Barack speak before heading out to door knock on the first day of canvassing in NH April 2007.... Convincing a woman in Nashua at 5:30 PM primary day who was not going to vote to go to the polls and vote for Barack.... organizing a massive student outreach in MA, VT, NH, NY and RI to get college students from NH to register and vote absentee in NH....
Emma RUddock (mass HQ) - pulling an all nighter at the Mass Headquarters with some amazing people and entering data, my amazing college dems leaders who's enthusiasm is so incredible and inspiring, realizing after the NH primaries that this was not going to be easy but that we were going to do it anyway, succeeding in convincing my parents to let me take the year off from college to work fulltime on the campaign, meeting some of the most incredible people that I have ever gotten to know, voting in my first presidential election

Out of My Comfort Zone

I am so far out of my comfort zone these days I have trouble remembering what it feels like. I keep reminding myself that it's good to stretch and try things that scare you. It doesn't seem like the reminding changes my reactions though.

I hate calling strangers. Even more I hate calling strangers to ask them for something. It's a struggle to pick up the phone and dial. My stomach gets butterflies everytime I call a new number on my list. They subside a bit when I get an answering machine. They surge when I get someone who is pissed that I'm calling. The go away entirely when I get a friendly person on the other end of the line.

I'm going to be canvassing this weekend and that is soooooooooooooooo not anything I'm comfortable doing. At least on the phone you can't see one another. At least you can hang up if you need to. And it's safer than knocking on a stranger's door.

But this moment is too important for me to sit on the sidelines and not try to do something useful. I don't want to look back and wish that I'd stepped up to the plate and set aside my own fears and discomforts. I don't want to tell my children, "You can't change things. You have no power."

Our son feels involved. He is contributing by putting stickers on postcards or stamping them. Our two-year-old daughter likes to 'help' as well. They are both contributing by playing quietly when I make phone calls or by giving other volunteers a laugh or smile. They contribute when they come along to pick up or drop off voter registration forms. They are contributing because they and the futures I want for them inspire me to try and push through and do just a little bit more.

So I may not be comfortable but I am growing and learning. And, most importantly, I am actively working to create the world I wish to live in and the world I dream of for my children and all the other children in the world. What are a few butterflies compared to that?

The Fierce Urgency of I'm Too Busy

I've never volunteered in an election before so I totally understand when people say they're not comfortable or too busy or whatever other reason or excuse they have for not volunteering. Or at least I did.

This time around the election is just too important. We cannot afford to let this opportunity pass us by. We cannot afford McCain/Palin. I believe that with all my heart. If I didn't I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing.

So when I get response after response of "well I'm really too busy but I'll be voting for him," I get frustrated. Then I chastize myself. After all I know what it's like to be busy and I know that participating in the grunt work of a campaign is very low on most people's to-do lists (hell it usually is on mine as well). I'm really struggling with this. I understand but I don't. So much is at stake.

I know I'm not the only one who feels passionate about this race, far from it. Yet some of the most vocally passionate and fired up people I know are doing nothing. Some are donating money and that's great if they're able to and it's a valid contribution but right now we need people's time, their energy, their help. I hear people talk about how much they like Obama and how great it'll be when he's President but folks he's not President yet. He's still trying to get the votes!

Please, the time for action is now. If you an spare ten minutes and a few bucks buy some snacks for the volunteers and drop them off at a coordinator's house or campaign office. If you can spare two hours phonebank or address postcards. If you can spare four hours go canvass or do more phonebanking. It's not over until it's over. We need you!

Birthing Change...Is It Out Yet?

I've heard this election process (and volunteering in it) compared to labor and delivery before. It's an apt description. I am so tired. I can't imagine what it's like for Barack and Michelle and their families.

I've been doing the best I can as a town coordinator but I also have two young children to care for and a husband who is also devoting a ton of time to the campaign spearheading the NH Student Voter Project. I don't want to feel like there was more I should have done so I keep pressing on and doing little bits as I can throughout the day. I hope it all adds up and combined with what others are doing each day we're able to effect the change we're looking to see in our government and our role in it.

But I am tired and ready to vote. We're all trying to push through and birth this change. There is no choice but to see this through or fail and failure isn't an option. I cannot see how our middle-class family can survive four more years. I can't see how our nation can survive four more years. I cannot fathom how we could not seize this moment in time, in history and elect Barack Obama President. He is the right man for this time. We need to see this through.

And one last random thought. I think I've said it before but I'm tired and it's on my mind so I'll say it again:
Do you know the Maybelle story by Virginia Lee Burton about the San Francisco cable cars? It all reminds me of that story as well - the people who worked harder won over the ones who made more noise.

Musings on Callings

Callings. I've always wondered if I'd ever have a calling. Writing has been an integral part of my life and self-identity since a young age but I don't know if it's a calling or more of a desire. Callings would supercede desire.

I've been thinking about all this in the context of the Obama campaign. It's been a calling for many people. I don't know if it's my calling. I don't think it is though it has reawakened in me a desire to change the world for the better. I've wanted to be involved, and have been since he announced, but I don't live and breathe it every day and work endlessly and tirelessly. I do plenty but I would think with a calling you couldn't ignore it and spend time doing other things at its climax. Also, it's really become a movement. Can a movement be a calling?

I do know that the desire to become a mother was powerful in me. It was so powerful I was willing to go through four pregnancies, three miscarriages and IVF to have children. But as powerful and driving as that was, was it a calling? Biological urges probably played a role.

Events can transform a person's life and create a calling. I hesitate to say I wish for a calling because I don't want anything terrible to befall me or my family. That feels too much like tempting fate.

But I do wonder at how some of us clearly have callings that direct and define us while the rest of us muddle through our lives trying to figure out why we're here and what we should do. The best I've ever come up with is that I want to have a positive impact on the world, be the best mother I can be for my children and I still really want to make it as a professional writer. That goal is central to my sense of self and a strong desire.

But a calling, that seems like something profound, something different and rare.

Our minister talks about being called to ministry. It sounds like it's a life altering thing. It sounds like it's something so compelling you can't ignore it.

Do we all have a calling? If we do, do many of us miss it or ignore it? Do circumstances prevent us from answering our calls? Are our dreams/desires the same as a calling?

Ah well, it's late and I'm tired. I don't have any profound wisdom on the topic, just curiousity.

Harvest

I just harvested our parsnips and collected what I think are going to be the last of the raspberries. There are lots more on the canes but I don't think they'll have an opportunity to really ripen. Maybe we'll get a couple more handfuls - it'd be nice!

I experimented with growing the parsnips in a big, big round bucket this year and was hoping to be able to keep them in the dirt and harvest as needed until the ground really froze up. It didn't work out that way. When I tried pulling a couple out today I could only yank off the leafy top part and the roots all stayed firmly embedded in the dirt. Eventually I realized the only way I was going to get more than ten of them out was if I emptied out the entire bucket. Sigh.

At least I had a spot in the garden where I had wanted to put down a bunch of dirt. I dug and dumped and dug and dumped...for a half hour and finally was able to get the dirt loose enough to empty it. The root system was huge! It was easy to see why the parsnips weren't budging. Their roots made a tight net through the dirt and especially at the bottom. It was worth the work. There was a bounty of veggies and some of them are enormous with really long curved roots. It'll be a bit of a challenge to peel those but cutting them up and peeling the cuttings will probably do the trick.

I still have a patch of parsnips and carrots in the garden but I think they're just not going to get big enough before it's too cold for them to do any more growing.

I love being able to experiment in the garden. The only problem is that I risk losing an entire harvest - like when I cut the raspberries back last year and it turned out they're a variety that likes second year canes the best. The ones I didn't cut back had a bounty of berries this year and the others, well they had pretty leaves at least.

I'm thinking that next year I'm going to try and find a long, narrow, and deep container for carrots. It worked well with the parsnips but I think round was the wrong shape.

Mmmm lots of dreaming and planning to do this winter :-)!