Wednesday, January 21, 2009

No Invitation for Me

I had hope right up until Monday evening. In fact when I found a registered mail notification in my mail box Monday afternoon my heart skipped a beat. Could it be? A last minute invitation to Barak Obama's inauguration!!

I have been nursing my inaugural fantasy for a while now. Someone in Chicago or Washington would pass a dakband along to someone in Obama's inner circle/family and they would immediately recognize the potential of the dakband project to support the summons to unity and community that the new president has heralded. As a result, of course, Kara and I would be invited to participate in the event that marks the beginning of personal and global reform.

I will even confess that when our local newspaper featured a front page article about three local high school students who had somehow managed invitations to the inaugural ball simply due to their political and civic engagement I was incredibly jealous proud! :)

When the dakproject began just over a year ago a friend commented that he thought the dakbands would be much more successful in the U.S. than Canada. At first I was somewhat offended by his remark, but he went to explain his reasoning. Compared to Canadians, Americans are much more outgoing, unreserved and quite frankly, friendly (especially to strangers). So he could see them being less afraid/embarrassed to approach someone they don't know from Adam and offering them a dakband for their act of kindness. I definitely understood his point. Thankfully however, we Canadians have disproved his theory and are embracing our 'inner American' with enthusiasm that inspires me. Having said that, I believe that the new president has created a tipping point for the dakband project in the U.S. He has prepared the way, and dakbands are a tool that can help to pave that path with stories, both great and small, that literally show us that change is all about relationship, connections with our fellow citizens. A deliberate consciousness of concern and kindness, that transforms the world we live in by transforming each one of us, and encouraging us to contribute our best.

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