Now that the election is over, and for the time being before Barack takes the oath of office, things have quieted down. A lot. Issues and controversies are not longer of the daily (and sometimes hourly) urgency that they once seemed to be. For the next while, I'm going to take a break and just write about my life after the election. I hope that it's not too boring for all of you.

Life is funny. It can bring such interesting turns of events. I'm currently in Chicago, and sitting in Panera Bread at the corner of State & Congress. It's nice. Free wifi is always nice. So is their lack of caring when it comes to just hanging out without buying something (buying food being a luxury I don't currently have).

On Saturday, I'll be heading back to Missouri, and I'll be staying with one of the former NTL's (Neighborhood Team Leaders) from the election. Joplin, Missouri... Boy, who would have ever thought? I certainly wouldn't have. Never in my life did I ever think I would have any connection to the state of Missouri. Of every state in the country, Missouri certainly wasn't at the top of my list of states to either visit or live. And then Joplin, of all places. Deep red Joplin. Definitely not. But I'm going back, after coming here to Chicago to visit a friend. I guess the ultimate question then becomes: why?

I had two choices: either return to Washington state and live on Vashon Island... where I could find no work and do nothing of importance and be far away from my girlfriend. Not to mention the fact that I had moved to Washington only two weeks piror to moving to Missouri to work on the election. I have family there, sure. But I don't have friends. And I don't have connections. I have no network. I have no real possibilities.

Joplin, Missouri, however, offers me the exact opposite. In Joplin, I have friends. Lots of friends, and of course, my girlfriend. I have connections and a network of people to help me if I ever need it. And if there was a time that I needed some help to stay afloat, it's now.

But for all the anxiety and uncertainty for the future, and for what each day will bring past the previous, I don't feel afraid. A lack of money, as fearful as that sometimes makes me, does not trump my excitement for what the future, as unpredictable as it is, may birng. And why? It's because of Barack Obama. It's because, through him and his movement of change, I was able to become a part of the lives of so many other amazing people, and they, in turn, become a part of mine. A part that I know will last for years to come.

I don't know what's going to happen for the next four years. I don't know whether Obama will be a good President or not (though I certainly think he will be, and certainly will be lightyears ahead of what's moving out come January 20th), but I do know that he has provided for me people and a place as unexpected in its coming to me, as the Presidency was coming to him.

Nothing is the same. That's for damn sure. Of course, we all know that. The country is never going to be the same again. And we've all, all of us, said this to ourselves, our friends, our neighbors, our families. But what is not discussed so much, really, is how we as individuals have been changed, shaped, molded and formed as a result of this historic election. For my part, there are many things.

I look at life differently. It's no longer such a stark contrast. There are no longer such clearly defined lines of good and evil, black and white... Over the course of this election, my ideology has been shaped into something that is more of a pragmatic liberalism, than an ideological one.

This, of course, has been so greatly as a result of my involvement here at TPM. Of the openness of opinions here. But also in the decisions that Obama made over the course of the election, and my evaluation and reevaluation of such things. And then, of course, my last month in rural Missouri, speaking with and hearing from the numerous people who often had opinions and ideas very different from my own.

I now feel I have a personal interest and investment in this country, in its future, and in its shaping. Yes, Obama is the President, and yes, he will be shaping things for years to come. But as he always said, the election was not about him. It was about us. It was about me and you. And my personal and direct involvement in his movement has given me, I feel, a responsibility to do more than I had been doing previously. I feel that I owe it to our country, to which I feel so proud, to give back, and to contribute. I can't just sit on my ass anymore. I can't feel satisfied just talking about things. I have a personal stake in everything that happens from here on out. I can't ever forget that.

I spent my last month of the election in the most unlikely of places. Rural, southwest Missouri. A town called Joplin. Red as red can be, believe me. And yet, in a place where I had people openly tell me they would not vote for a black man, I found some of the best and most wonderful friends that a person can find. All as a result of my involvement in the campaign. I met the most amazing girl, too. Just showed up on her doorstep (literally) one day when I was out canvassing, got her to volunteer, and... Well, the rest is history, as they say?

My educational path has also changed. I love the theater, and was majoring in it. But now, I truly want to continue to be involved in politics. Involved in movements like Obama's. I think Constitutional Law is the thing I was to pursue. No, it's not because Obama taught it. I've always had a fire in me for Constitutional Law. But in revent years, that fire had dwindled. If anything, Obama has reignited it.

Yet these are just some of the small ways that I have changed. Some of the small things that I know will never be the same about me. I know I'm not the only one. We've all changed. In big and small ways. And by us, I mean not just the United States. I mean the entire world.

On election night, after the initial party and excitement was over and after the tears had been shed (and many of them from yours truly, for sure), I received a text from a friend. As some of you may know, I spent a period of time in France, in 2007, during their Presidential Election. I met many people there and made friends, one of whom was quite interested in American politics. He texted me, and thanked me, and the United States, for electing Barack Obama.

It's amazing that stories like these are no longer a rarity for me. I have so many in my mind. It is, in a word, inspiring. The pride I feel in my country, and in myself, have never been so great. When Obama said he wanted to bring "change", I had an idea of what he meant, especially politically. Yet I never knew that he would bring such direct change to this average individual. Thank you, Barack. Thank you.