Women's March

Yesterday, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States of America.

You have no idea how much I wish that was the opening line to a joke. But it isn't. It's very real.

Watching the news over the last 6 months has made me increasingly more worried, more concerned. 

I studied history. I know that women and minorities have had to fight for almost every right, every privileged that's been granted to them through out history. I know that the fight continues for some of those today. 

I saw a public figure make bold and disturbing statements that threaten the social rights progress that has been made over the last few decades. I saw people accept what that public figure said. I saw people support, defend and "brush off" those statements. Then I saw the unthinkable happen:

I saw a nation elect that public figure into what is arguably one of the most powerful political positions in the world. 

I'm no longer worried, I'm terrified. I'm terrified that a strained situation is going to snowball and get worse. I'm terrified that those who were able to accept those disturbing statements will become so complacent that they start to accept disturbing actions. 

I'm beyond terrified that those attitudes will filter into my country, and that my nieces will grow up in a world that treats women, minorities, civil, social and basic human rights worse than the world that I was lucky enough to grow up in.

Forget making America great again, let's try returning hope to all those who struggle, who are oppressed just because of their gender, religion, skin colour or sexual orientation.

I am hopeful for a world of harmony, acceptance and grace, where the United States isn't being lead by a bully and where basic human rights aren't in jeopardy.

This is why I support all those women and men who were marching in peaceful protest all around the world today. Thank you and Good night.

Sarah

Reflection

I spent a lot of today looking around and thinking about things. Specifically, my life. It was a very reflective day. Some of the stuff that reflected back to me was pretty good and that made me happy. However, the majority of stuff wasn't so good and that made me kind of sad. I didn't sit down and tear myself apart or put myself down. This was just a general evaluation of how things are going in my life. My 35th birthday is only 6 weeks away, so I think that's what spurred on today's thoughts. Time to check in and evaluate things.

I'm doing so much better than I was 5 years ago. When I turned 30, I was miserable. I kept that to myself as much as possible but things were bad. With the exception of still being single, almost everything else has changed and improved. A lot of things in this world get better with age. Apparently I'm one of those.

The problem I have before me at the present is that I've become complacent with my life. Things have gotten better and are going well, so I'm ok with just letting things be. This isn't good. I'm a dreamer. I have a vivid imagination and wild dreams and unfortunately, I seem to be operating under the delusion that I live in a Disney version of the world, where if you wish hard enough, and believe strongly enough *poof*, your magic godmother fairy type person appears and makes all those dreams come true. Yeah, that's not quite how it works.

I've come to the rather sobering realization that if I want any of these wild ass dreams of mine to come true, then I'm going to need to work for them. Really, really work for them. Put plans in place and follow through on them. Strive to be better and not accept mediocrity. I've been doing that my whole life. Like back in high school. I was a good student. Good grades came to me easily, so I never really pushed myself. Same with University. Had I actually pushed myself and really applied myself, I could have got great grades but for some stupid reason, I never felt the need.

But not anymore. This isn't just limited to my personal life either. My work life is going to have to change as well. I need to start looking for the next step. My career needs to grow too. And while complacency can be safe, it's not what I want. Don't get me wrong, I like and most of the time enjoy my job, but it's not my "dream" job and it's not the final destination in my career path either.

I am holding out some hope that the universe will help me along too and I have faith that it won't let me fall on my ass either.

I know what I want and why I want it. I just don't know the Where, as in where this will take me, the Who as in who will I become or the most important and hardest one, the How. That one is going to require some more thought and planning. But I do know that whatever I decide to do or how I decide to approach it all, everything is going to start with one small step, taken with courage, hope and determination. And I'm taking that step right now.

Good Night!

Sarah