Courage
People say I have courage to run for office. From where does this courage come? I have to say it comes from my mother- also, from my father. After my father’s plane crash when I was in the womb and then his subsequent court martial (read Easter Bonnet Curse Words for that story), my mother gathered her courage. She had to survive. We were pregnant with me in her womb in April 1959 when he crashed. After a trauma, we constrict. All blood and oxygen go toward vital organs. My poor father lost it. Flying was all he knew, and he was out after drudging through ROTC in high school, ROTC at Rice University, and having served eighteen years in the Navy as an officer, “I was shit canned”, he said. He beat her and his four sons. She gathered her courage to leave him. She had to survive. It took all her courage. She demonstrated that to me for the next thirteen years until she finally broke.
I mine my life to understand from where this courage comes. I feel attacked nowadays. I think we all do in this political atmosphere. I want to heal myself, my family and community. We are adrift in fear of each other. I martial my courage as my mother did to survive. And thrive. I dig deep and ask us all to do the same. Constrict if we must. Focus tightly on what really matters- love and relationship. Tempers are short. I know mine is. Send blood and oxygen toward vital organs. Let things go easier. Just let it go. Forgive faster, then move on. Hold no grudge. Especially toward oneself. Martial courage which comes from the heart. What is the true meaning of courage? It is strength of mind to carry on despite danger or difficulty, but our heart is also a mind. Corage, from early French curage is defined as “the heart as a source of feelings, spirit, confidence,” from coer “heart,” from Latin cor “heart”. I send all my energy toward this vital organ, courage. Join me.
Vivian Fulk for NC House 91 