Obama, Reshma
I touched upon some details in this blog post that can disconcert people. But there is a method to the madness. It is a political decision.
Reshma 2010 makes me wants to think of big issues like the mass rapes in
Liberia. The
Second Avenue subway line is too small an issue by my standards. I want to think about big issues. I want to think about global issues. I feel lucky to be in New York City. Global issues are local to New York City politics. I absolutely love that.
When the
democracy movement was ongoing in
Burma a few years back, I made a point to read up on the gory details. The regime was killing people in the streets, taking the bodies away, and burning them. I was hungry for all details to do with that.
The issue I think about a lot as I volunteer for Reshma 2010 is that of the global
trafficking of women.
Frankly talking about small, unpleasant details from my personal story helps me retain the political boldness to learn up on the gory details of the ugly realities out there that might have political solutions.
Making The Blues Go Away
But my personal pain is real. And I have decided to work extra hard to make it go away, to manage it.
- Rigorous, regular physical exercise. This is so very important. (Freehand Exercise: 1,000 Push-Ups, 1,000 Squats, 1,000 Crunches)
- I eat healthy as is. I should eat healthier.
- Rigorous socializing. Instead of spending all my time on the phone while in the office, I think I should spend some of my time just shooting the breeze, swapping stories, getting to know the staffers and interns. I have learned many of their names, but I have not gotten to know them well. That is not good.
- Rigorous blogging. Blogging is workout for the mind.
The idea is not to make the memories go away, but to train yourself to the point the memories are still there, but they no longer bother you emotionally. The more ambitious thing to do is to turn it all into fuel.
I have thought in terms of writing a very raw 1,000 page autobiography and publishing it online myself. I might do that at some point.
By the time Obama 2008 was claiming the crown in May 2008, the Obama positivity was doing wonderful things for me personally already. I was looking at my 1989 from another angle.
Bill Gates dropped out of
Harvard. I never went to Harvard. That makes me one better in the out of the box thinking department.
