Early morning, random thoughts

It is five o'clock in the morning. I have been up for about an hour. Thinking of all the things that I have not done to get ready for today. Thinking of all the things that are going to happen as the days go on.

Why is it that sleep is so hard to come by?

Now I am actually feeling better about the day that, for me, has already begun, but still have a million other thoughts roaming through my head.

Reminiscing on days past when life was simple and all I had to worry about was packing up enough things to wear for a trip to Nigeria. Then get there and just have fun laughing at/with cousins who are super funny tell stories of school cooks throwing their own sweat into the group's soup pot. Doesn't sound too funny, but to hear Somkele tell it, it is the funniest thing in life.

The simple life.

When I didn't really care what was going on in the government in any country because why should I?

Now that is a huge concern. What is going on in the world? Why can't we all just get along? Why can't we as the U.S. select leaders who are after the nation's best interests, rather than the wealthy, white men's best interests?

Why in 2008 is it such a big deal to have a woman successfully running for the presidency?

Why do we live in a society where people are not willing to accept their prejudices? Where people will openly say that they will never vote for a black person, or for a Latino person, or for a woman to lead their nation? Yet those are the candidates who believe in what they believe in.

Makes no sense to me. But I can understand it. Mainly because that is the way people are in this day and age. They are superficial. They are real good at repeating mantras about what they believe and what they want their society to be like, but when the chance actually comes up for that to happen, they are the first to shy away, or the first to put come to blows to keep the status quo.