Yes, I Can

A Spiritual Action of Great Magnitude

On election night, 2008, my mom called to express her joy over Obama winning the election. She was excited about the election, but her celebration was directed at Jerome and me. We will have been married 20 years this month, and from the very beginning, both our parents were against our marriage. While we were engaged, Mom cried every day, together Mom and Dad prayed for us daily (that we wouldn’t go through with it!), and Dad said he’d have a heart attack if he attended the wedding.

Well, they did show up and we did get married, and 20 years later, with Obama and Biden winning the election, races coming together, Mom called to say we were ahead of our time. She acknowledged that out of all of her kids’ marriages, ours was the one she fought the strongest. And here 20 years later, we are still together. We found a way to stick together and tough it out, no matter how difficult, and we have a mixed race president to show us change is here and now.

She reached out to Jerome with a new connection and deeper appreciation, with feelings that were finally released from bondage. It appeared that she finally “got it” and saw what we were doing together. I felt Jerome change as a result of their conversation. I felt she embraced him personally, allowing his way and his life into her heart. Suddenly I felt the spirit present in Chicago and also right here in my home. This election was a spiritual action, and a wave of joy has swept the land.

When I married Jerome, we brought the white and black together. Now we see on stage, the Obama family and the Biden family embracing each other, the races connected, hearts aligned, for all to see and be lifted.

YES I CAN. I can do more. I can face more. I can take more. “How do I do that?” you say. It’s not as important to focus on the how as the what. What is my focus? To answer that I have to first acknowledge my desire, for that’s the fuel. And desire connects to destiny. YES I CAN requires us to change. That why many of us say “No I won’t!”

Tears of Joy

The morning after the election, Anthony, Jerome’s best man in our wedding, showed up filled with the delight of a child, thrilled at the election outcome. When I told him about the awesome connection I saw between Mom and Jerome, he repeated verbatim, almost 20 years later, what Mom had said at our wedding reception. After all had taken the microphone to wish us well and offer their personal wishes, Mom stood up and commanded everyone’s attention. She proclaimed, “Up until now I have said No! No! No! And now I say Yes! Yes! Yes!” That Anthony would remember exactly what she said, that he would speak it at this time, that we could track what was started and now amplified 20 years later, we both found tears popping from our eyeballs. It had power then and it still had the power now–the power to bring change.

This is why so many people–Oprah, Jessie Jackson, white, black, yellow, brown–all had tears running down their faces on election night. The same voice that spoke at our wedding, spoke to the world last Tuesday. The cap that was blocking our planetary connection to the conscience has been removed; and once again, we now are witness to a great change, a revival of hope.

The Change is Large and Very Personal

This change is large and personal. The I CAN is very personal. Just like the AmerICAN is personal. What will I do with it? Where have I been slacking and blaming life for my difficulties and inequalities? Where have I been saying life is too hard or I’m too old? What energy do I have wrapped up in the “too’s?” Too fat, too slow, too resistant, too broke, too difficult? The I CAN has no time or tolerance for the “too’s.” It just says, DO! And Do greatly.

I desire to change with this large wave upon us– to dig deeper, beyond, “I’ve tried everything,” because usually that means everything comfortable; to go into the uncomfortable, the new, the foreign, the different, and find a new way there.

It’s the heart that carries the energy of YES I CAN, and with it comes hope, courage and possibility. I CAN be an individual. I CAN fulfill my desires. I CAN have fun with the challenges in front of me.

I’ve been using the Black Bull recently, a symbol of I CAN. A dear companion, Eric Carver, has a company called Welcome Clothing (www.welcomeclothing.com), and he has a new I CAN t-shirt with an awesome black bull on it. When I recently sent the shirt as a gift to a dear friend, I was rewarded with her deep, rich, overflowing tears, embracing the power of the I CAN it holds.

I activate the energy of I CAN by placing a black bull in my heart. Sometimes just the head of the bull, sometimes the entire bull with long horns and steam coming out of his nostrils. When I will focus here and activate this symbol, I feel strong, powerful, courageous and connected. That is the energy of I CAN.

What is in your heart to be expressed, developed, or showcased? I feel like I’ve received a new lease on life, on hope and an opportunity to be an active participant in changing the world, by changing me. What a great time to be in life!

Gail Green
November 7, 2008