i can spare change...can you?

when barack obama was a candidate for president, i was planning on voting for hillary clinton. i just couldn't believe that this guy was for real. i had attended an all women's college and my family was all about girl power. i wanted to see a woman in the white house, and not as first lady, but as president. i fought the notion of voting for him for a very long time. during the primaries, before i pulled into the parking lot of the polling location, i honked at the hillary supporters. i went into the voting booth all alone, as we all do. when i stepped into the booth, almost as if it was someone else's hand, i voted for obama. i keep hearing people say that they voted for him because they wanted to be "on the right side of history." i feared him because he was talking about hope and he was making others--and just about everyone around me--feel hopeful. eventually, i gave in and started to believe that what he was saying about the world around me changing, was really possible. on election day, i was a completely different person than who i was before the primaries. i went into the polling place with my obama tshirt on. i had texted my friends and wished them good luck. my mind was on one thing all day--the change this man would bring.

inauguration day felt like new year's day to me. i was filled with excitement and i was waiting for something to happen.

in the days since, i have been watching the news and worrying about friends and family members losing their jobs. i have been afraid of losing my own job and what that would mean for my family. i tuned in to president obama's address on the economy. the whole time, i was wondering, "what can i do? what can i do right now?" i thought about what i have right now that i could give. not lend, or expect back, not create i.o.u.'s for but what i could give. so here's what i did...i started teaching a social justice class. it meets every sunday morning and there are four women who want to learn and i teach for free. that wasn't enough. i knew that i could give more. my mom told me that three local animal shelters were closing because they couldn't afford to pay their staff. the animals would be moved to other locations. so what did i do? i signed up to be a volunteer at my local animal shelter. i know that i can walk a dog for an hour on a saturday morning. that's something that i can do today. right now. something that can make a difference. but that's not enough. i give social justice workshops and i get paid for them. i know that the colleges are having trouble with funding and programs are getting cut. my aunt who is an art professor isn't getting paid because there isn't money for that. so what can i do? i can share my knowledge for free.

last night, i shared this with my friend, and teacher. she said that i should share this with other people and see what they can do, today, right now, to make a difference.

i voted for president obama, and now i am realizing that the choice i made on november 4th was not to be passive, but to create change. obama can't change our world on his own. and me, even with my menacing four-foot-eleven-inch tall frame, can't do it on my own, either. it's going to take obama and me, and my wife and my family and my best friend and my teacher and my students and my neighbors and you and you and you and you.

i am a 34 year-old Latina lesbian who has two chronic illnesses and i am finding ways to spare change. can you?

tell me how you are sparing change by replying to this post or emailing me at icansparechange@gmail.com