Being a disruptive woman in health care feels very different today than it did yesterday.  I am shocked at the difference.  I did not expect it.  Even while I knew that the election would be significant, I could not have predicted the seismic shift within me, my family, my friends and my organization.

Yesterday, I would have written about the wonderful sense of camaraderie I feel with the other disruptive woman in this blog and beyond.  I would have written as someone in exile, who must fight the revolution to be heard, to make a difference.  I would have written feeling very much ‘other’-ed by the mainstream structures in health.

I imagine that this grew out of being the mother of two kids with a rare condition that the world might never recognize as important, or work to mitigate, except for the work our disease advocacy organization has done.  One could postulate that the other-ness was a product of being a fish out of water in the health care community – I come to it simply as a consumer, no science degrees, no elected career in this field – simply the mission to ‘transform health through genetics’ – the mission of Genetic Alliance, of which I am a part.  I knew some of my otherness was a result of feeling that the current administration doesn’t care about health care the way I think it should.

I recognize today (through discussion with my friend Diane), that the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States has realigned me in a way that brings me to tears.  It has made me aware of the ‘we the people’ I freely gave up.  I chose to turn my shoulder to the anima of this nation, simply because I disagreed with its leadership.  At exactly 11 PM last night, I loved America again – and with the help of Diane today, started to understood what I had given up of my own accord.  I reclaim my ‘we-ness’ as an American, and I embrace it with all of its challenges in a way I never have.

So what does that have to do with being a disruptive woman in health care?  A lot.  As I reconnect with my nation, with my brothers and sisters in the USA, and by extension, with those around the globe, I am both joyful and somber.  I shed tears of joy at the liberation that President-elect Obama has brought, in his integrity, focus and discipline.  I begin to understand that the deep healing that this nation needs is not just about race, or health care, or war.  It is interconnected – deep and wonderful, in anguish and peace.  I also understand that I must own the healing, and the transformation of health care, in essence, begins with me.  I cannot again throw away my connection to the ‘we’ simply because I disagree with a part of it.  It is mine, I own it, even as I don’t own it – and give it to the collective – to the open space.  There is no ‘other’.

It is remarkable that my ‘otherness’ is healed through a man whose race has caused him to be othered.  Barack Obama has stepped into the center, not groveling, not whining, not moaning or bitching.  He has stepped into the WE.  I join him, though I do not yet know what the commitment to change, to healing and to transformation will entail.

We have been good at division, walls, prejudice and orphaning, in America and in health care.  We have also been good at dissolving boundaries and joining together.  It is easy to become jaded when we struggle.  I think we have in our president-elect a person who has retained hope against the struggle.  I look forward to what happens as we bring health care home, with hope.

My college-age daughter remarked to me, as we watched history in the making, that it might seem cute that Senator Obama made good on his promise of a puppy for his children at the start of his acceptance speech.  She pointed to its deeper significance – it was his first campaign promise, and he delivered.  I think we are going to see a great deal of delivering in the coming administration – and I commit to deliver myself to the process of renewing health care.  Yes WE can!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 5th, 2008 at 6:42 pm and is filed under Innovation, Policy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.