Inauguration

As I watched the second inauguration ceremonies for President Obama, I thought about the significance of the ceremony. When a sitting president is re-elected, we don’t just say, ‘oh yeah, you can keep your job for another four years’. Instead, we go through enormous planning and cost to mark the ‘re-beginning’. The ritual of the second inauguration calls on the person in office to recommit, and restate the goals and intentions set for the next term.

         Those of you who have read my blog, or who’ve been my coaching clients, probably know where I’m going with this. Yes, I’m asking you what are you ready to recommit to in your life? You are stepping into your future, too. I know that you may have just set resolutions for the New Year (are you still holding to them?), but I am talking about your long term intentions in life.

Resolutions are often symptoms of intentions. If, for example, I say that I resolve to eat less saturated fats this year, my long term intention is to live a long and enjoyable life. I want to be energetic and optimistic for as long as I live, and I know that my health will be at the core of that optimism. So if you did make resolutions, look at them now in a new light. What does your resolution mean about your long-term intentions? What are you really committing to?

         Listening to the President’s speech I thought about the courage he exemplifies in making his intentions public. I know they are political agenda items and that he doesn’t carry them alone, nevertheless, when I thought of making such a declaration just for my own life, I got a queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. That feeling made me realize the reason for a second inauguration, and the power of personal declaration. I also knew I wanted to blog about this, and yet that queasy feeling got worse when I thought about it. I didn’t want to look into the next four years and name the things I’m willing to fight for. I’m a progressive liberal, I said, I will support the President in his work toward more effective gun control, equal marriage under the law, women’s rights to control their bodies, and the necessary steps toward wise planetary decisions. Gee, that was easy. I didn’t get any feeling in my gut. So now, what will I commit to in my own life? And why should I tell anyone else about that commitment?

(Ah, the queasiness begins.)

         The question arises: What if I don’t do it? I could lose face. I could feel failure.

         Then I felt in my bones one of the most powerful aspects of coaching: accountability. In making that Inaugural speech, the President holds himself accountable to all of us, just as he did in the First Inaugural Address. And during the campaign people held him to his stated intentions. (You promised us jobs and I’m still out of work.) So that campaign was a time for him to acknowledge that he didn’t accomplish all his intended goals. But that didn’t stop him from committing again, and starting again. If he can do that on such a grand scale, I guess we can do it in the intimate corners of our life.

         So, it is my intention to re-commit myself to the dream of creating and supporting myself comfortably as a writer, artist, and life coach. I recognize that others may look at me and say, ‘of course’. But only I know what a hard decision that is. Only I know the fear of stretching money at the end of the month, or the vulnerability I endure by using a credit card to pay for supplies or marketing services. Only I know how much scarier it gets to still be struggling as age creeps up. But all that makes my declaration stronger and more powerful.

         Each of you who reads this will increase the strength of my inaugural declaration, so I thank you for that. If any one wants to write and make your declaration to me, I’ll be happy to receive it.

*The painting included above is titled "Launch". It was completed in 2010. Dimensions: 36" x 36"