Dear Friends
How I reacted the night Obama became president:
Just crying…like most people on the streets of N.Y, or in the world
that night, from joy…and other complex emotions which had to do with
the work we all did for the longest years trusting in miracles.
I had a strong urge for John to be here, physically, to give me a hug.
I got over that urge a long time ago, since I knew that John was with
me in spirit, and working with me all this time. But this night was
different. I felt John and I needed to hug each other physically.
I cried hardest when everybody started chanting WE CAN DO IT!
Then I retreated to a long, long silence – In the end I saw a little
candle lit in my heart.
Yes.
We are not abandoned – if you even had the smallest doubt.
Miracles do happen.
It keeps on happening. Daily.
We are the miracle.
This time it was spelled out to us in a big way.
To even the dimmest, the most cynical – to all of us, to the world.
Yes.
IMAGINE PEACE – We Can Do It!
We still have a lot of work to do. The next year or so, we will be busy
re-wiring the computer in our brains to meet the New Age.
Yes! It’s all just brain work.
And Yes! We are really standing at the beginning of a New Age together!
We were for the longest time, but did we believe it?
I must confess, there were some dark days, too, for my heart.
I recommend some books, again, to feed our brains.
The books I recommended in the past (here) are pretty important, too, if
you haven’t gotten around to reading them.
Get this right. That it’s all brainwork. Change the computer in your
brain. Rewire it. And keep on doing all the important things you do for
yourself and your loved ones (including your world family) for you and
their mental and physical health.
Keep spreading the message, keep dancing. Keep loving and having fun!
That’s all it is. Life.
Books
WAR IS A RACKET
by Brigadier General Smedley D. Butler
This was first printed in 1935. It was reprinted in 2003.
(read some here)
AN EARTH SAVING REVOLUTION
by Teruo Higa
(translated into English)
THE REVOLUTION IS TO BE HUMAN
by Walter Lowenfels
This title alone gets you in your stomach!
I listed because of that.
But the book was published in 1973.
I just got it from a friend. I don’t think it’s sold anymore.
HOW WE MAKE DECISIONS – Your Brain Is (Almost) Perfect
by Read Montague.
There are many other books on rewiring your brains for the New Age.
I say it again. It’s all brainwork.
Know that, and you will bump into the right books for your brain.
They will jump at you, when you scan the shelves in your local book shops.
Lots of love, yoko
[...] refused to take a stance on the election, saying that she preferred grassroots organizing — posted an open letter showing that she too has gotten caught up in the Obama craze. She gets the catchphrase wrong, but I think the sentiment still holds true, certainly enough to [...]
thank you very much, yoko, for sharing
your experience and thoughts on obama.
i’ve bean WoNdeRiiiG what you thought.
great! great! great!
Dear Yoko Ono,
YES,
miracles DO happen!
Tkanks for sharing your thoughts.
With warm fluxy wishes
Litsa Spathi
PEACE
I’ll do anything for Barack.
cool Yes We Can, said my Friend. I believe him.
I joined his Site too. I also promised to Sing for Him if he Won.
You were there, he won. oo baby
I sent him People Power Free Tibet, he already had his own policy on that pre-empted little me. I think it, Baracks on it. Not since JFK have I seen such a great Man. Peace in our Lifetime… yes we can. People Power,
All People are my People. He will, give peace a chance!
Jock
{aka Marilyn}
Yoko,
Thanks for sharing this…
and absolutely “WE CAN DO IT!”
Hi Yoko,
I left MA to work as a volunteer for Obama for the last 20 days before the election. I worked in Hillsborough County, FL, and sometimes it seemed like there was no way we could win there. McCain signs everywhere. But, we ran our little donated office as a place for people to come and share their hope. Some people stopped in to say they were undecided – that was fine, we told them. Let’s just talk about what matters to you and what you hope for. These conversations would eventually lead them to ask why I had come all the way from MA to work for Obama in Florida. Ultimately, many of these “undecideds” became supporters and even volunteers. Keeping my heart and mind open to their needs worked so much better than confronting them and arguing about my ideas about McCain and Obama.
I can’t even explain how overcome with emotion as I was on election night, and also on Inauguration Day. President Obama has inherited so many problems, but despite the mess with the economy and the wars still going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, people are hopeful for a new day and a new way.
When I returned to MA I was asked to write about my experiences in Florida – here is some of what I wrote:
For now, let me say that this was an incredible experience. I am so glad I
> took the time to work for something and someone I believe in. I wanted Obama
> to be elected for some very basic reasons – I wanted well thought out
> deliberate governance rather than knee-jerk reactions. I wanted diplomacy,
> rather than invasions. I wanted transparency, rather than secret meetings. I
> wanted our country to be guided by its ideals, by the constitution and by an
> appeal to our better angels. I believed that Obama could bring about these
> changes and restore us to the country I thought we were when I was growing
> up. I wanted someone who could talk about race and class reasonably and
> honestly.
> However, for me, it was not about electing the first black president, even
> though my five sons are bi-racial. It was about Obama, the candidate – not
> Obama, the black candidate. Nevertheless, some of the experiences I had
> while working with a diverse group of people in Hillsborough County, Florida
> were profoundly moving. I would love to share those experiences with anyone
> and everyone who wants to listen.
> I will share one here-
> A young black male (probably between 18- 25) came into the office after
> standing in line for hours to early vote. He noticed our office and he just
> felt like talking. He told me he had just voted and that he hoped Obama would win. Then he said quietly, “Even if he does not win, he has already changed my life.” As he spoke, tears welled up in his eyes. He continued, “This campaign has been the first time in my life that white people don’t seem afraid or suspicious when they talk to me. Since the rally in Tampa, there is a different feeling and white people seem more comfortable with young black men like me.” As he
> spoke, my eyes filled with tears too and he could see them. We both knew
> that the other was crying, and we both knew, without having to say any more,
> how profound was the change of which he spoke. I held my hand out to him. He
> took it and then we just started hugging. After a few seconds, we pulled
> back, and he looked a little embarrassed. I thanked him for telling me his
> experience and, of course, asked if he wanted to volunteer. He did.
>
skip to the victory party on election night:
> By this time, I had already begun to weep, but once John McCain gave his
> concession speech (the crowd, by the way, was quiet, respectful and did not
> boo him) – I just lost it. I could not stop crying , and I mean really
> crying. It was as if some terrible pain I had been carrying with me for the
> last 8 years was suddenly lifted from my heart and soul. There was an
> immense, almost palpable, feeling of relief.
>
> Still, for me, it was about Obama the candidate and the fact that we were
> going to return to the kind of country I want us to be. But then, Obama
> began his speech and his family joined him on the stage, and I lost it all
> over again. Uncontrollable sobbing. I can’t even explain exactly what I was
> feeling, but I am weeping as I write this – it was (and is) about the
> realization that the American people were able to transcend race and vote
> for the best candidate. That the American people responded to hope, instead
> of fear. That despite our complex, and often tragic, racial history, more
> than half of us had come together to vote for the best candidate and the
> fact that he is a black man did not stop us from electing him.
>
> I felt prouder of our country than I have since I was in high school. (back
> then I got to work for Robert Kennedy as a volunteer in his office on
> Capitol Hill because of a letter I wrote him, and back then I hadn’t really
> started thinking about Vietnam yet – it was 1965-66 – so I was full of
> American pride and optimism and belief in the good we could do in the
> world).
> Again, I felt as if some sort of weight was being lifted from me and I
> realized how much the pain of our racial divide has affected me. (Not that
> Obama’s election solves everything, but it is such a big step in that
> direction). I literally could not stop sobbing. A reporter from somewhere (I
> don’t even know if it was a paper, magazine, radio, etc) came over to me and
> said, “you look as if you have been waiting for this for a long time.” I
> don’t remember exactly what I said, but I know I talked about the last 8
> years and also about America finally showing that we can be the country of
> our ideals. I think I said, that I had been waiting for this since the 60s
> when I BELIEVED that we COULD CHANGE the WORLD.
> The amazing thing is after watching the news on the 5th and 6th, I realized
> that in a way, we did just change the world. For whatever reasons, electing
> Obama has brought new hope to the world. I could list many reasons,
> including the fact that we are ending 8 years of terrible foreign policy.
> But, I think it is more than that, and deeper than that. I think when a
> country that was founded on ideals that it has never been able to truly live
> up to, takes a big step towards fulfilling those ideals, the rest of the
> world takes heart.
> Because, in the end, almost everyone, everywhere, wants the world to be
> better than it is – more peaceful than it is, with less poverty and less
> suffering, and more opportunities for children to grow and learn and thrive.
> This is what most people want and, whether we really deserve it or not, many
> people look to the U.S. as having a major role in achieving this. On
> election night, they saw us take a major step toward fulfilling the ideals
> on which we were founded, and because of this the rest of the world smiled
> on us.
> I’m glad to have been a small part of making it happen – a tiny little cog
> in an enormous machine, but the magic of this machine is that it needed all
> those tiny little cogs to make it work.
Yoko, thanks for reading. I like corresponding with you even though you don’t know me at all. BTW, I am jangeist on Twitter.
Hi, Jan! Thank you for letting me know what you’ve been doing. The Change was made because of the work done by people who held on to their beliefs. Through the Change, we all became closer. I love that. yoko