JOY.

Elation. I am still unable to even truly believe that it's final; that we won. Every time I think of it, my heart fills up anew with so much joy that I shiver.

I have loved reading about and seeing images from around the world celebrating. Sure, they're celebrating Obama, but I think more than that, they're celebrating America. Despite 8 years of America the jerk, most countries and most people in the world still believe in us; in our ability to do the right thing; to believe in hope and goodness; to be a bastion of freedom; to be a friend rather than a bully. I am so proud of us.

I started this post on Wednesday (it's now Saturday), and I just had another thought.

Since I first voted in 2000, the president has been a person that I don't believe was actually elected. Before the wars; before the torture; before the wiretapping, there was 2000. When not all the votes were counted. When, if the votes had been counted, the Bush Administration would have never happened. How incredible it is to go directly from that type of election to this year's election. When more people voted than have ever voted and it seems that those votes have been counted; when a grassroots campaign made up of $5 contributions fought all the way to the White House; when even former slave states helped elect a black man to the Presidency.

Talk about the yin and the yang of elections. So, joy. Sometimes I'm in the car and the reality of what happened on Tuesday night will pop in my head, and I will feel like I just heard the news all over again. Still a lot of joy to be celebrated.