The Inauguration and Living in the Moment (Abbreviated-written-in-McDonalds-version)

This place is ready to blow. So many people of so many opinions gathered together and watched as the world changed. Some yelled. Some stood silently. Some cried. Some laughed. Some fought.

As we stood in the first checkpoint in the trek to the national mall, we met a young reporter and her photographer. They had traveled in from one of the Virginias. East Virginia for all we know. The photographer was jaded, there to do a job. But the reporter, with her hair cut short, her eyes fierce and probing and not missing a thing, and her jacket primary red for easy visibility, was ready.

Jamie's feet were killing him because of the cowboy boots he had worn to go with his hat, and the photographer wasn't eager to get any closer, so off I went with my new friend, Emily, to have a look.

We made it. Plunging forward and eventually finding our way out onto the field in front of the capitol building, we could see what was happening. We were surrounded by America. Everyone was represented and we laughed and talked and I found a connection on a personal level that I have not experienced in quite some time. We talked about writing and art and music. I told her about the universe unraveling and she agreed that she might be a figment of my imagination. That is something that only an independent consciousness would say, so I might have to recant on the idea that I am creating my own reality. I would never create someone this intriguing for myself to interact with. I don't like myself that much and it takes away from thinking about ME!

I joke, but I did not detest the 'getting to know you' dance. She was interesting, a step ahead of me in the conversation and I felt myself emerging with a new curiosity for things outside of my head. Sometimes traveling is a lonely endeavor and it has taken a long time and much distance for my old wounds to turn into scars that do not still hurt in the night. So, standing at the center of the universe, with a mighty event taking place around us, I looked around at the world that I had forgotten about.

Suddenly it occurred to me that I had found the resistance, both in DC and in my own psyche. At the moment that Trump began his speech, and a foul energy began to emanate from the crowd and universe that we inhabited. We listened for a moment to the reality TV star trying to be profound and inclusive. He was failing and it was disgusting. I would have rather he just come out and said it: there's a fist-fight coming. Emily turned to me and asked if I wanted to get out of there. We had no reason to be there. I said yes, grabbed her, and kissed her. She kissed me back.

We parted after and she said, "That was bold."

"Something good had to happen."

Even in times of great struggle, there is still beauty in the world. Always.

And that is it. In that moment all of the past vanished and I was not connected to it anymore. I was only the sum of my experiences, good and bad, morbid or beautiful. I was not a slave to the memory of them.

The fear and anxiety of the times to come melted away. Even standing in front of Trump, knowing what we may be in for, I was unafraid because I had a friend. Even with the uncertainty of my personal situation (sometimes the traveling hobo bit gets old), I knew that today was not the last day. This was not the end, but the beginning of times that will bring new joys and new challenges. There was something to fight for. For that moment, I was free and anything was possible. In that moment, I was present. Emily and I held hands as we made our way through the crowds, back out into the world that was now different.