I'm Ready for My Close-Up

It's a beautiful day in DC. The breeze smells of rain though there's not a cloud in the perfect blue sky. The Newseum gave away balloons, apparently, that said "Free Speech Rocks." I saw some that ran away from their owners and floated free, ever-skyward, and I wondered where they might finally end up. I had the windows rolled down and the radio blaring. The breeze kissed my cheek and whispered in my ear like a lover. It turned the radio off after a time, to listen to the sounds of the city, fractured laughter, a virtuoso drum solo played on overturned plastic garbage cans and paint buckets, admonishments and instructions from parents to children, snippets from someone else's radio, promiscuous horns, assorted languages.

It's the kind of day that makes you feel everything is right in the world, even though you know it's not, one that gives you a glimpse into an urban Eden, though thankfully the tourists are clothed.

I got to thinking about free speech as I drove by the White House, and the Newseum is right, it does rock. I can have a bumper sticker that says pro-life, pro-choice, Obama, NObama, Give Blood. One that's pro-soldier or anti-war. A fish for God, one with feet for Darwin, a shark because it just plain looks cool. I believe the particular opinion is less important than the right to state it.

And then I got to thinking about bumper stickers and what people believe.

I believe that issues like abortion cannot be condensed into bumper stickers, but if a sticker starts a conversation, then that's a good start. I believe in God, and evolution, and karma, all at the same time because I don't believe these are concepts that are mutually exclusive. I believe in love, but that it doesn't conquer all. I believe a fight now and again clears the air and that it's easier to steer when there's no fog. I believe a big hurt now and then reminds you of how important it is to pay attention to little things. I believe that flowers have magical powers and that therefore spring is a sacred season. I believe life is precious and ends long before most people have figured out how to live it. I believe there are things we are not meant to understand and if you don't know which things I am talking about, watch the eleven o'clock news. I believe there's a good kind of crazy.

Most importantly, I believe a little goes a long way, unless you're buying gasoline. A little smile, a little love, a little hope, a little music. A little sunlight and a little laughter. A little of you, a little of me, and a little of we. With that and a few good bumper stickers, we can change the world.