The Façade, That has led to a Leadership Crisis…
A Tribute to the American ingenuity and opportunity for a new kind of Politics for 2020…
We reward politicians for the best verbal smoke and mirrors, instead of making hard decisions. Fixing problems has become less important than the personal aspiration to higher office. Nov 11, 2019 Tara Ewald.
Tara brought out the reality of America, from the Myth of fast-talking “gods” running for office, to the Golden chalet being the ultimate prize, and not the aspiration to fix what may be wrong in American Politics today as the ultimate end prize. We seem to believe in the fireflies of life that twinkle only for a while before they go on their merry way to another backyard to enlighten a moment then saying Aideu and off again. Are those fireflies beautiful, yes? Are those fireflies a working of some higher power, yes. But in the end after our admiration and moment of excitement, do they not leave at the sight of rain, or the bittersweet of a harvest moon? Has America begun to believe in “gods” and fireflies for their political leaders?
Beto, the lion in wait, was anti-Trump, not just in his person or character, but in the fact that he’d be the first to tell you that there is no ONE person that is the answer to Donald Trump. That it was always going to be about a collective movement of ordinary people striving to become extraordinary. Beto saw an army of hard-working bees having one job to do, and doing it in concert to the final conclusion, then moving to the next needed nesting or home. Beto understood the need to bring all into the fold, for all Americans to have one goal, and that was to create that better tomorrow equally for every individual. It would be hard work, and not all would at first be up to the challenge, but in the end, the chambers of success would have far outweighed the daily grind to get to that American Palace of life, liberty, and happiness.
Beto created the aspiration to become stronger than we were, to find within ourselves the true wonderment of ability and determination. Never to be lost amongst the rustling of the limbs of the sycamore in a light drizzly day in autumn, or the scorching dry plains of the Midwest. Beto helped people in ways others could never do. He brought himself to the table, to the soapbox of life, and challenged each of us to not do it for ourselves, but for those who are weary travelers along the path of life, and at this moment, at this divide in the pathway, take their hand and help them to safety, hope, and equality. From this challenge, people stretched themselves to be better, discover more, and show more compassion than they had once believed. This mission was not Beto’s mission or each individual’s mission, but the mission of the colonies to work together to build a castle more pure, more loving, and more powerful than the sum of each individual part. From the social entanglement of those who can and those who need a hand up, there was the beginning of the many beautiful stories that unfolded so many people who found strength inside of themselves that they never guessed was there. The shy who became vocal leaders, recluses that hosted social events, lonely and anxious people that became adept at collectively elevating negative energy and transmuting it into something more positive. If Trump makes us less of a nation, less of an individual, Beto inspired us to become more. More worthy of the sunrise to the hope of a better tomorrow, more sincere in our love for our neighbors, more compassionate to those in need, more powerful in the defense of freedom, liberty, and the Constitutional Republic that each of us calls home.
Those dark damp places that we run past in the sunlight of the day, and avoid in the darkness of stars, those places that scare us are places waiting for healing, both as individuals and as a collective. Until you walk up to that home that scares you, or that neighborhood you always seem to ignore, we must first remember that we cannot see other people…really see them…unless we’re willing to be seen, with all the good and bad that entails. You can’t hear other people unless you listen to them with the same passion that you use when you speak about the things most sacred to you. You cannot outsource the work of citizenship to paid staffers unless you are willing to lose the joy that comes from forging connections born from a true common purpose. There is no real happiness in the guise of winning if you played no part in the game or if you never flew and twinkled as the firefly at night, nor brought the last needed piece to the perfect beehive the world could have imagined. The most sacred and true love of country is to put yourself at odds with many to bring happiness to all, the equality of safety that America offers, and the freedom to pursue happiness every day by the deeds of a few, who stepped out of their cocoon, braced themselves against the winds of mediocrity, and jumped into the ring of fire that would create the rainbow colors of a molten glass vase of life.
As we cherish the moments of deliberate, or non-deliberate impassioned leadership, there is no deus ex machina coming to save us. No one was ever coming to “Save US” from our own refrain but us. The hardest part of all of this is that we have to patiently walk the beach now, looking at each grain of sand looking for just the right crystals of beauty and bringing it to our better tomorrows as we share each crystal of knowledge to those who may need just that, a small twinkling of positivity.
In this year and in 2020 we can choose to follow the cawl of the Crow, or hear the song of the red robin. We can believe in the importance of the vulture or believe that the struggle of flying so quickly as a hummingbird has much more to offer. We can choose to walk along and pick up those crystals of beauty as they fall, or stand upon the cement sidewalks of impurity and obtuse to the needed change. Life truly gives us the morning sunrise and evening twinkle of stars, but it is up to us if we truly see the beauty of each, and understand why they make such an impact. We can choose to chase the fireflies, or follow the worker bees, understand that the morning sun can be our star of hope or the burning off of the negatives of yesterday. The choices are ours, but the end result will be the beauty we create as a nation, as a neighborhood, and as an individual.
Now is our time to either create a hollow painting or the next van Gough of America. Let our brushes begin a portrait of compassion, acceptance, and unification, under one desire to bring peace and love to all that is within the borders of the United States, today, tomorrow, and in the happiness of the hope of future days to come. Let us not be swayed by the breezes of change, but stand steadfast in our conviction to move towards a better tomorrow. Join me in finding the best of the best for our next President. Let us not just accept, but demand strength in compassion, the power in real conviction, the audacity of change, and the belief in equality for every person upon the shores of this mighty and beautiful country.
