Where Finding Our Belonging is Protected… Why I Return to the National Archives

I have been to several places that have stayed with me long after I have left, and that draw me back.  

Places that sometimes feel calm and quiet but are exist because of great hardship  and pain… but speak very loudly to your heart.

For me, the National Archives Building is one of those places.

I find myself returning at least once a year. Not because I have to—but because something in me feels drawn back. A need to pause, reflect, and reconnect and stand in the presence of history.

Inside, you are surrounded by documents that helped shape not just a nation—but an idea.

The Declaration of Independence.
The Constitution of the United States.
The Bill of Rights.

And even older influences, like the Magna Carta—a reminder that the belief in human rights has been evolving for centuries.

When I stand there, I do not just see faded ink on paper, and displays explaining these documents that are the foundation of our country; I also feel the foresight of people who imagined something bigger than themselves… something they knew wouldn’t be perfect, but hoped would grow.

Not Perfect… But Meaningful

We don’t live in a perfect country, we never have, and we never will, but that is also part of the beauty of our country that these documents preserve for us structure and processes that allow us to eb and flow through time in our quest to continue to build towards a country that can keeps moving towards a more inclusive, welcoming and safe place for all people. 

One of the things that moves me each time I visit is the realization of the great
intention to build something that could evolve but that requires the consent of a majority. Something that could protect the freedoms we all have as Americans of all different types and stripes. Something that could expand to include more people over time.

As someone who has spent much of my life learning to see and accept myself… and now, as a transwoman continuing to grow into who I am… this matters deeply to me.

Because while the world doesn’t always feel easy, accepting or understanding, I know I am still living in a place where there is a framework—imperfect, but powerful—that continues to move toward inclusion, protection, and dignity.   And it has.  Not easily.  Not quickly.  Sometimes with 1 step forward and 2 backward. Now maybe feels like 3 backward, but I refuse to give up hope.

This is not something I take for granted.  Each time I visit, I feel a sense of gratitude,
not because everything is as it should be, but because there is space for it to become better.  

Space for people of different backgrounds, identities, and experiences—people who may not have always been seen—to continue finding their place in the not perfect yet still great story.  

Including me.

Maybe why I keep coming back is to remember the past…But more importantly to connect the past to the present. and to restore my hope for what’s still ahead that we do not know. These documents don’t just tell us where we’ve been, they remind us that we are still becoming.

I believe everyone has a beautiful and amazing story to share, and just like th documents here, our stories aren’t about perfection.

They’re about truth, growth. and becoming.  

They are about being seen—sometimes for the first time—in a way that allows us to feel valued, worthy, and whole.

If you’ve never been to the National Archives, I hope you’ll go, I hope you will take your time, stand in the quiet and let yourself feel what it means to be part of something still unfolding, yet still so special, so unique and so powerful.

Because whether we realize it or not…we all belong in the story, and all of our stories matter and are worthy of preservation just like the ones here.