We stand on the precipice of a new dawn. We find ourselves here together, though some would prefer it otherwise, but that is the nature of America- out of many, one… We do not get to choose the many; life has selected us all for this moment, so we find ourselves in this space together. In this space were love and hate, happiness and sadness, joy and pain co-mingle. Arriving in this space has been challenging. The journey to get here has been fraught with hardships and heartache. We have suffered collective trauma from COVID-19, racial unrest to hurricanes devastating parts of our nation. We have lost loved ones, friends, homes, jobs…if we are honest, some of us have even lost ourselves in the madness. We are caught up in a wicked web of fight or flight. Everyday is about survivial. We have forgotten the beauty of being able to exhale. 

We are engulfed in the noise, fearful of what the quiet holds. But it is in the quiet that life speaks. It is in the calm where the answers reside. It is in the stillness where the path unfolds. 

Many of us are fearful of what tomorrow may hold. Our days are filled with anxiety about the unknown. We search endlessly online scrolling for fortune teller answers that only destiny can know. 

We are afraid. We are worried. We are distraught. Many have asked how we got here? We have wandered off the path of love and are surrounded by darkness. How do we begin to navigate the shadows? But as Anne Lamont says, “Hope begins in the dark.” That is our first step towards a new dawn. 

We find our way out of the darkness by first believing. Believing that this nation can be better. Believing that love, not hate is the way. Believing that we can be great by standing together. 

Hope is a dangerous thing. But a nation void of hope is a nation that ceases to exist, a country that has committed itself to the darkness. 

I refuse to commit myself to the shadows. 

This is the moment for us to emerge from the darkness. 

We are not nocturnal people. Let us step into the light. 

Let us have enough hope to believe in what we can be and what this nation can be.  

Let us emerge from the shadows better people. Let us step out stronger and wiser.

This is our moment. Do not fear it. Embrace it. 

This moment where life has brought us together. 

Where we stand ready to rise and greet the dawn.