Michelle Obama Archives - Ann Hedreen, Writer Teacher Filmmaker

Hope is a Choice

Ann Hedreen2026-06-23T09:33:02-07:00Categories: featured posts, feminism, film, politics, Seattle, Uncategorized, women's rights|Tags: 2026 Midterm Elections, Ask E. Jean, Cascade/PBS Ideas Festival, E.Jean Carroll, hope, Ivy Meeropol, Michelle Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Obama Presidential Center, Seattle|

“Hope is a choice,” Michelle Obama reminded us last week, at the grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. “Whether or not we use our voices to speak up is a choice. Voting is a choice. Being a decent human being is a choice. Believing that we still hold the power to build a country that reflects us all is a choice.” I am so ready to choose hope. I am so tired of despair and dismay and disgust. If Michelle Obama is offering up hope, I’m all in. Watching her speech, and her husband’s, felt like going home after a very long time away. It felt like feeling better after a miserable flu. It also felt like a happy dream, from which I knew I would be required to wake up and return to reality. But Michelle Obama gave me a parting gift, and she reminded me that I had to choose to accept it: hope. It’s a choice. And it’s not magic: we have to choose to do the work that our hope inspires. Earlier in June, I heard a differently delivered but equally welcome message of hope from another eloquent woman. This one I got to receive in person. "Not only are we going to win, we’re going to win BIG,” said Nancy Pelosi on a big-showers-with-big-sun-breaks Saturday afternoon at Fremont Studios in Seattle. Pelosi’s voice was firm. She waved her arms emphatically. This was not a guess, it was a declaration. Doubt was not allowed. “And the Senate is a [...]

FLOTUS

My daughter just tweeted this: “FLOTUS is my favorite OTUS.” After watching Michelle Obama light up the screen at the Democratic National Convention, I couldn't agree more. Maybe I’ll change my mind Thursday night, when POTUS takes the stage. But for now, I’m grateful for FLOTUS—aka the First Lady of the United States—who sure washed away my GOP-red-stained blues. What a difference a week makes. This is a non-broadcast Restless Nest: typically I write on deadline for KBCS radio, but the conventions have given me a two-week break. I’m going to do some housekeeping—watch for some new pages on the blog and a new URL. (don’t worry: you’ll be redirected). Meanwhile, I offer you a very few of my own favorite blogs: A Little Elbow Room: I love this week’s piece, “Pass me my blog.” Love the idea that we bloggers are creating a new literary tradition. A Geography of Reading: if you want to go beyond the bestseller lists and discover the most provocative, beautifully written books in the world, Isla McKetta will take you there. You’ll get lost, happily, on this site. Matrifocal Point: after watching Lilly Ledbetter’s speech last night, I love Liza’s blog even more. There is still so much work to do towards equality for women and she is a font of inspiration. Peace Corps Gray: Ready for a challenge? How about joining the Peace Corps at 60? Marsha’s in Senegal for two years. Drop in on her now and then, via her warm, funny, honest, wise blog. Shoes on the Wrong [...]