One for the history books

I haven't had a chance to blog in the past few days. Our internet wasn't working at our hotel in Maine, but we've got it back up.

Two days ago (our last day in Boston), we went to Quincy to tour the birthplaces of John and John Q Adams and the Adams mansion. That was exciting for me in and of itself because I hero-worship Abigail and John Adams -- their individual personalities, and their relationship together. No one in American history fascinates or inspires me more. I digress.

We went on a tour of the birthplaces and family homes. It was incredible to stand in the places that John and Abigail (and John Q, also very cool with his own merits) worked and lived and grew. The very room where John penned the Massachusetts constitution (did I mention it's the oldest living constitution in our country? I probably did. That constitution was comprised half my statement for my We the People class. Haha). The room where he set up his first law office, where he studied the Bible with his family and the books of Montesquieu on his own. It was just too cool. I was again overwhelmed by what a strong, wonderful, inspiring woman Abigail was. I want so much to be like her. Did you know she nailed a horseshoe upside down above her door? When asked why, she replied, "Most people nail horseshoes above their door to keep their good luck in. We have so much--I want to pour out and share my blessings with everyone who enters this house." Wow.

Again, I digress.

Then, when we arrived at the Adams family mansion, I actually shed a few tears. To see the place where my heroes died, but more importantly where they lived together and grew old together was just...wow. I saw the chair where John Adams, on the 50th Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, sat, looking through his upstairs window at the parades and celebrations below, which he had opted not to attend, but which he smiled upon happily. The chair where he suffered a stroke while watching those festivities, and the room where he was carried to die, where his last words were, "Jefferson survives," when in fact Jefferson had died only a few hours earlier.

That was really moving.

We also got to see the Bible given to John Quincy Adams for defending the slaves of the Amistad because he refused to accept payment. Usually they keep this Bible locked away, but we got to see it all thanks to a special visitor who was touring right behind us.

That special visitor happened to be retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

Talk about a cool day.

Then, randomly on the subway I met a man whose words were quite profound. He really put things in perspective for me about my pursuit of my passions. I realized that I need to stop hesitating and worrying about my plan to go into music and theater. I love them, and I will be happy wherever they take me. I have been so worried lately over my future. I think the biggest problem is that I'm so afraid of "the look" -- the look that says, "Good luck; you'll need it" or "You'll never make it". I know now that it's time to stop worrying about whether or not people think I'll be successful and just go for it. It's what I love, and that's where I need to be (if it's God's will for my life.)

Anyways, this man also talked about the power of writing music and sharing it. He said, "You think you're the only one with these thoughts and ideas, but really there's a million other people out there with the same thoughts. If you hesitate, if you put the idea away, you take it away from those million other people who just might be looking to connect. Something in their past, present, future--you can allow them to connect those things with something you write." That's really powerful.

This man is trying to use his love of music to organize a fundraiser for another man he knows, one of the lost boys of Sudan. He wants to get a music session going to raise money for the guy, who he described as having an absolutely wonderful smile. He said, "You'd never suspect what he went through." (Please, by all means go do some research on the Lost Boys of Sudan. It's a wonderful cause, and it's very moving to think about what happened to them.)

This man gets even more incredible, though. He was talking about his children, and he told us that he has two mentally disabled children -- one 14, one 22 years old. He told us that people say to him frequently, "That must be hard." He says instead that it's easy -- he calls them his greatest blessing. I think I agree. I think a lot of people in the world don't understand that. I think this man had some of the most beautiful insights into life.

It's kind of sad, but I'll probably never meet him again. I don't think I'll ever really forget him, though. What made him so profound to mean was just how simple and straightforward he was. He was so positive, and the world really needs more people like that.

Needless to say, I was inspired multiple times over that day. What with visiting the home of my American history heroes, seeing the first female supreme court justice, and meeting a man with so much love for the world and everyone else in it, I was swamped with opportunities to step up and do something good.

I don't know what my calling is yet, but I know that whatever it is, I want to use it to the best of my abilities to make the world a better place.

I guess this isn't really a bad place to start. :)

Goodnight, and God bless.