42 Days After AmeriCorps

I consider myself so fortunate. I was an AmeriCorps VISTA for 365 days. And without a doubt, they were the most inspirational, motivating and poignant days of my life.

Now I've been home for 42 days. Actually, I've been in transition for 42 days. And I cannot find it in me, mentally or emotionally, to say goodbye to my year of AmeriCorps service. Each day I feel myself struggling. Struggling to fill the void that has been left by such an incredible experience coming to a close. I realize now that I simply wasn't prepared ...

I wasn't prepared for the year to go by so fast.
I wasn't prepared to so deeply miss a community that I knew for so short a time.
I wasn't prepared to mourn. The loss of a period of intense purpose, turning my passion into action every single day, beside others doing the same - the emptiness is gripping.

No one told me that ending my year of service would be harder than beginning it. I simply wasn't prepared ...

42 days. 42. Jackie Robinson. A man who showed great courage and unwavering determination to change the status quo. He said, "A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives."

I couldn't agree more. And that's where I struggle. How will I take everything I learned, everything I felt, everything I became ... and turn it into not just a year of service, but a life of service? How will I continue to make an impact?

Why Vote?

Because white men who owned property gained that right in 1789 after fighting for our country's independence ... Because African-American men gained that right in 1865 after the Civil War abolished slavery, and then continued to fight literacy tests, poll taxes and violence until the Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965 ... Because women were left out of the conversation entirely and had to fight for their own rights state by state until finally going to Washington and gaining the right to vote in 1920 ... Because young people who were being drafted to fight in Vietnam said "old enough to die, old enough to vote" and the age requirement was dropped to 18 in 1971.

It is not only your right, it is your responsibility. GO VOTE.

Marco Rubio speaks the truth

I took a moment to watch Marco Rubio's speech from last night, as he dropped out of the presidential race. And while he and I may differ greatly in how we go about creating change in this nation, it is clear that we both appreciate the sanctity of what has already been created and we hope for a future we can both be proud of ...

"I ask the American people: Do not give in to the fear. Do not give in to the frustration. We can disagree about public policy, we can disagree about it vibrantly, passionately. But we are a hopeful people, and we have every right to be hopeful. For we in this nation are the descendants of go-getters. In our veins runs the blood of people who gave it all up so we would have the chances they never did. We are all the descendants of someone who made our future the purpose of their lives. We are the descendants of pilgrims. We are the descendants of settlers. We are the descendants of men and women that headed westward in the Great Plains not knowing what awaited them. We are the descendants of slaves who overcame that horrible institution to stake their claim in the American Dream. We are the descendants of immigrants and exiles who knew and believed that they were destined for more, and that there was only one place on earth where that was possible. This is who we are, and let us fight to ensure that this is who we remain. For if we lose that about our country, we will still be rich and we will still be powerful, but we will no longer be special."

Us vs. Them

I am so sick and tired of this "us vs. them" mentality. Whites and blacks. Christians and Jews and Muslims. Rich and poor. Republicans and Democrats. Americans and everyone else.

When will we stop shouting at each other's differences for just a moment to realize we are all in this together?? We are ONE people. We are ONE race. We are ONE world.

Do you know who suffers from all this strife? THE CHILDREN. The innocent, hungry for life, beautiful children. They deserve better than this. They deserve role models. They deserve messages of unity and welcome. They deserve the opportunity to dream bigger than the generation before.

DAMNIT. I really want to believe in us ... all of us.