At 12 noon EST on Tuesday, January 20, 2009, Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America. After the eight-year nightmare America and the world has lived through, any change looks good. But THIS change looks especially good.

Imagine! We will have a president who thinks, deliberates, welcomes dissent, reaches out to our neighbors in countries friendly and not-so-friendly, can admit and learn from mistakes, sees dialogue as the first rather than last option, knows and is committed to upholding the Constitution, cares about the people--ALL the people--in the country he is to lead, sees the environmental threats to our planet and will be working to protect her, has a sense of integrity and ethics, and is ready to shake up the status quo.

I ask everyone across the globe to hold this man in your heart. He's going to need all the good energy we can send. And please see him covered in protective light. We need him to stay safe.

[I created this composite using my own photographs.]