“We can not solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.”
-Albert Einstein

Life is funny.

Not as in funny-ha-ha, though sometimes it’s that too. But more, funny/strange/deliriously weird…that kind of funny.

Can you imagine trying to explain our world to an alien? “Yes, well,” we could say, “first, we are born.”

Born? That subject alone could take a few years. How the hell does that work? I mean really, truly work? It’s crazy heady stuff…

Then, we’d tell them, our bodies/minds never stop changing and morphing until we ultimately sort of disappear which we call dying. Though, we should add that people in every part of the world seem obsessed with talk about their names living on forever more.

Men especially, love to work on their legacies, or have streets and libraries named after them. Silly things that they hope will somehow make them immortal (on that subject, can anyone really tell me about the people their streets are named after? In Vancouver the streets are mainly referencing white men in suits. Mr. Howe, Mr. Smithe, Mr. Granville. Mister. Mister. Mister…)

In fact, I’m guessing that most of the world has their streets named after men.

Which takes me to this past Tuesday night. Because it was while watching the U.S. results on Tuesday that it really struck me.  When the camera panned over the Romney supporters, all I saw were white men in suits with greying temples and their stalwart stand-by-your-man wives with great dye jobs. In other words, the Monied Old World Order.

But when the camera panned over Obama-land? I saw women, men, young, gay, straight, old, latino, asian, black, white, and beige. In fact, what I really saw was hope. I saw the changing face of America, and I hope, the future of our world; a big jumbly grab-bag of people loving each other, not ‘tolerating’ each other but genuinely embracing the humanity in each other and yearning toward a bigger picture solution.

Do I think President Obama can wave a wand and fix everything? Not so much. It’s a big mess.

But I feel way more hopeful when I see that we’re not sticking with the status quo. We’re starting to represent other people who will add new and fresh perspectives on the issues.

I believe that when we all work together, not just those old guys, but all of us represented and having a chance to throw our ideas into the mix, that we will all be richer for it.

And then when those future alien-ET-types come to check us out, we can tell them that we were once perilously close to messing the whole thing up but we pulled ourselves back from the brink because we realized everyone’s voice mattered. And together we came up with solutions.

I know. I know. I’ve been accused of being too Pollyanna-ish before.

But I’m talking about hope here. Because without hope, what’s left?

Related articles

• 10 Life Lessons You Should Learn From Albert Einstein (lorensworld.com)