guts

I stumbled upon this little rock message at Signal Hill in St John's, Newfoundland last year. Our immediate response was to giggle but I figured that you don't often come across a bee and a profound message on the one and same rock and so it warranted a picture.

Yesterday, many in the world watched as America inaugurated its newest president. I commented to friends that the inauguration and all the pomp and ceremony that surrounded it had all the elements of New Year's Day writ large. Barack Obama's eloquent speech was nothing if not a long list of "New Year's" resolutions and for all of us watching, reading or listening there would have been few amongst us, knowing how vulnerable our own New Year's resolutions are to our egos and our varying strengths of commitment, that didn't wonder which of them will stick and which will fall victim to the temptations of past ways of being.

Our rock artist is on to something here, I think - some days it's all we can do just to maintain and sustain the person and life we have carved out for ourselves; indeed, it does take guts to be. However, in the spirit of a new year, a new era, a new start for one of the most influential countries in the world, and (most importantly) in the spirit of my freshly renewed blog and my desired identity to be a Creator of Things - beautiful, meaningful, functional things - I'd like to acknowledge the guts it takes to be-come too. For it takes plenty of guts to become whatever vision of you that you have imagined for yourself. And it takes courage and creativity too.

Lucky those are my New Year's resolutions for this year.

I wish Barack Obama, the members of his administration and America as a nation all the guts, courage and creativity they'll need to become the people and the country they want to be.