I yell a lot about the importance of implicit rhetoric and messaging a lot.

I'm taking today to be nourished by the the very specific messaging built into this inauguration ceremony.

A woman who has spoken openly about surviving sexual violence sang the national anthem

An official speaker signed the Pledge of Allegiance in ASL rather than using an interpreter

A bilingual performance of This Land is Your Land and a call for justice in Spanish

Biden cites St. Augustin, author of the precept 'non vincit nisi veritas, victoria veritatis est caritas' - 'nothing conquers but truth, [and] the victory of truth is love [charity].'

Interesting echoes of Martin Luther King, Jr. here given the date.

Specifically: “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”

a young Black woman in an incredible yellow suit holding the microphone for minutes to address the nation with her poetry

(our first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate!!!!! Amanda Gorman!!)

The symbols we choose matter. What we coalesce around matters.

None of this means we aren't going to fight like hell (or NEED to fight like hell), but this is also a moment to pause and breathe.