My Election Night Joy

What a day, what a day, what a night! I cannot tell you how happy I am. Check out the NY Times election day word train they've had going all day. The word that keeps popping up - the word that I used myself after watching Obama's amazing victory speech - is "elated". And baby, yes we are.

I was optimistic at the outset today, maybe a little nervous. I told myself it was too early to worry about it anyway, and besides that I voted like 3 weeks ago so tonight there was nothing for me to do but wait for the results to come in. I told myself things could go either way and that I had to be OK with that. That worked for most of the day, though it didn't stop me checking out my favorite Obama videos one last time. Around 5:00 PM I sat down to work on my new play; by 5:30 PM I was not so much writing as pacing around my room. At 6, I started stress eating. I stumbled onto the first reliable election results site I could find and told myself not to pay attention to the numbers now since very few of the polling places would be closed yet. I finished off Season 4 of The Office. I listened to the Obama playlist on imeem. Finally I stumbled out to the kitchen, grabbed all the brownies I had left from the batch I made last night, and plonked myself in front of the TV. I caught the end of Indecision 2008 on Comedy Central and watched Jon Stewart announce my candidate as the newest President-Elect. I flipped channels. I flipped out.

I was unprepared for the feeling of joy that came over me when I knew that Barack Obama was going to be president. Maybe it was the sense of participation; this is the first presidential vote I've ever cast that actually counted (my 2004 absentee ballot got sent back too late) and the person I chose made it. Maybe it's just that I've been with this guy since January, inspired by him for so long. Part of it might've been relief - no more election fatigue (and no more hating Sarah Palin, which was tiring all by itself). Maybe it was just that feeling of history actually being made right at this moment - and my being a part of it. All of that and more than that all at once.

We live in a cynical society - often with good reason - and I've tried very hard to make my choices in this election on as non-emotional a basis as possible. I've looked at issues. I've researched policy proposals. I've read things. Old patterns dying hard (and then dying harder, and eventually living free or dying hard), I at first tried to maintain my cool tonight. But you know what? The race is over; why not bask in the glow? So I cheered. And I danced. And I'll admit to getting a little choked up when Obama spoke at Grant Park, even as goose bumps spread over me again and again. Because it's true that you need to use your head as well as your heart. And it's true that people who make big promises only rarely seem capable of keeping them. But tonight? Tonight I feel like believing in something. And tonight I really believe that We Can.




UPDATE! A video and the full text of Barack Obama's acceptance speech is now available here. Please, please, please if you missed it the first time, check it out now.