I am a wordsmith. I love to read and write. I can’t NOT write. It is in my bone marrow. When I have an experience, I want to do more than savor it. I want to share it with the world. I am a verbivore, defined as someone who loves words and wordplay. I grew up reading and writing. One regret I have is that I didn’t study journalism as a career. Instead, I earned degrees in Psychology and Social Work which have served me well professionally. I tumbled into the career incidentally when I became a magazine co-publisher in 1988 and did what I thought of as seat of the pants journalism. It wasn’t until many years later (2014) when I went to work for a company that owned drug and alcohol rehabs as a member of their editorial team writing web content, that I had colleagues who were REAL editors who had worked for major newspapers. They schooled me on the ins and outs of writing and how to use a style guide that I was told would be my bible. Was I ever grateful. Over the years I have written for many sites and magazines, contributed to books and wrote my own called The Bliss Mistress Guide to Transforming the Ordinary Into the Extraordinary.
I was posting some photos from an annual Pride Fest in my community where I was offering FREE MOM HUGS. I had intended to type the word ‘celebrating’, but instead it came out as ‘celebrighting’. I decided not to use autocorrect since I really like the sound and feel of it. I Googled the word and didn’t see it. How do you claim copyright on a word? Anyway, I am going to keep using it. It really does reflect the essence of what I was experiencing today with people who were colorfully embracing life and brightening the world with their presence.
I can apply it to the experience of watching the Grand Opening event to welcome the world to the Obama Center in Chicago. It was a true celebrightion of togetherness, music, peace, social justice, creativity, diversity and unity. I was only able to catch the first hour live and then had a full day worth of clients to see in my practice. I then caught snippets of music from Bruce Springsteen, Bono, Stevie Wonder, Eddie Vedder, Common, The Roots, Jennifer Hudson and Christina Aguilera. I want to take time to savor the entire thing. These A-List performers rocked their hearts out in the presence of dignitaries, representatives from other countries, political figures, the military and clergy as well as those without fancy titles. A representative cross section of America in one place as people sitting in lawn chairs and blankets and dancing in the aisles. As it should be. It is on my bucket list to visit.
These words are inscribed on the building. “You are America. Unconstrained by habit and convention. Unencumbered by what is, ready to seize what ought to be. For everywhere in this country, there are first steps to be taken, there is new ground to cover, there are more bridges to be crossed. America is not the project of any one person. The single most powerful word in our democracy is the word ‘We.’ ‘We The People.’ ‘We Shall Overcome.’ ‘Yes We Can.’ That word is owned by no one. It belongs to everyone. Oh, what a glorious task we are given to continually try to improve this great nation of ours.”
The living former Presidents and First Ladies walked in and took their seats behind bullet proof glass on the dais, joining Barack and Michelle and their daughters, Sasha and Malia. The bi-partisan joy was palpable. Even though they had different visions for our country, they were able to reach hands across the aisle and seek common ground. I don’t know if that is even possible with the current occupant of the Oval Office. Clearly, he received no invitation. If he had attended, he would have found a way to make it about him. There are critics who say that the Obamas made it about the Obamas. They were in the spotlight because they were throwing the party and yet, they honored others as well. Their lives have been about service. What a 180 from the violent sport on the front lawn of the White House ostensibly to acknowledge the 80th birthday of someone whose life is ONLY about service to himself, which ended in the atrocious conduct of a wrestler whose name I won’t glorify with a mention. He hurled what he considered an insult against Michelle Obama and egged on other people in the audience to agree with him. His appalling behavior backfired as the support around her surged. My question, when I see obnoxious comments on line about Michelle Obama; a successful, educated, beautiful, professional, accomplished Black woman, is why would that person care about someone else’s body parts? And the other paradoxical aspect is if they think men are inherently superior (of course, they’re not), why would referring to her as a man be considered an insult? I think I might have broken a few brains since no one answers the question.
I was mesmerized with Barack’s speech as I was during his two terms and found myself cheering when Michelle called out the bully in chief without mentioning his name and praising her husband in the same breath.
Oh, and check out the tan suits.
With the world being in chaos and the leadership taking us in a direction that I would never have imagined, the sheer joy of the day drenched me and gave me hope for better days in which we will all be ‘celebrighting,’ and the ripple effect will echo through all eternity.
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