--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I had been thinking about the question…" description: "\"I had been thinking about the question, \"What do I love about America?\" I kept coming back to this idea of community and home, which already obsessed m..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/274/richard-blanco-37135_community_i-had-been-thinking-about-the-question-w_848524.jpg" --- # I had been thinking about the question, "What do I love… ![“I had been thinking about the question, "What do I love about America?" I kept coming back to this idea of community and home, which already obsessed me in my work. But I couldn't quite figure out how to lead beyond my immediate experience. Then I was just standing at the kitchen sink, and I…” quote by Richard Blanco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/274/richard-blanco-37135_community_i-had-been-thinking-about-the-question-w_848524.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/274/richard-blanco-37135_community_i-had-been-thinking-about-the-question-w_848524.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/274/richard-blanco-37135_community_i-had-been-thinking-about-the-question-w_848524.jpg) > “I had been thinking about the question, "What do I love about America?" I kept coming back to this idea of community and home, which already obsessed me in my work. But I couldn't quite figure out how to lead beyond my immediate experience. Then I was just standing at the kitchen sink, and I watched the sun rise, and I thought, "How many hundreds of thousands of people are watching the same sun rise right now?" I just knew the poem would go from that line.” [Richard Blanco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-blanco/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker reflects on shared humanity, seeing the sunrise as a symbol of collective experience that transcends personal boundaries. **In simple terms:** We all share the same sunrise, linking us all. Key Takeaway Recognize common moments to inspire broader leadership. Themes community shared experience leadership identity nationalism Mood reflective inspirational hopeful Type poetic motivational philosophical When to use this quote - public speaking - community building - personal reflection - national events Key Concepts collective consciousness symbolism empathy Questions to Reflect On - How can shared symbols foster inclusive leadership? - What actions turn collective awareness into concrete change? A Different Perspective The metaphor may overlook individual struggles that differ from the shared moment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Community](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/) [Home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/home/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [...and I put on "All My Love" and watched the sun rise yet again and thought thank you Robert Plant for all your love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miriam-toews/and-i-put-on-all-my-love-and-watched-the-sun-rise-yet-again-and/) [Miriam Toews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miriam-toews/) > [“Every morning I watched the sun rise and read a highly religious little meditation book and tried having a conversation with God. I waited…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-hornbacher/every-morning-i-watched-the-sun-rise-and-read-a-highly-religious/) [Marya Hornbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-hornbacher/) > [Once I spent a whole day there, a blade of grass in each hand to anchor me to the warm earth. I watched the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-donoghue/once-i-spent-a-whole-day-there-a-blade-of-grass-in-each-hand-to/) [Emma Donoghue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-donoghue/) > [Then the two friends leaned back and watched the sun rise clear of the trees. “Best time of day,” said Will. Yes,” Horace agreed.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flanagan/then-the-two-friends-leaned-back-and-watched-the-sun-rise-clear-of/) [John Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flanagan/) > [The Little House was very happy as she sat on the hill and watched the countryside around her. She watched the sun rise in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-lee-burton/the-little-house-was-very-happy-as-she-sat-on-the-hill-and-watched/) Virginia Lee Burton > [At daybreak, when loath to rise, have this thought in thy mind: I am rising for a man's work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/publilius-syrus/at-daybreak-when-loath-to-rise-have-this-thought-in-thy-mind-i-am/) [Publilius Syrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/publilius-syrus/) > [“Whoever wishes to see the world truly, to rise in thought above the tyranny of practical desires, must learn to overcome the difference of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/whoever-wishes-to-see-the-world-truly-to-rise-in-thought-above-the/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Another poem, another line, another girl pretending shes fine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/another-poem-another-line-another-girl-pretending-shes-fine/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Some have accused me of a strange design Against the creed and morals of this land, And trace it in this poem every line:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-gordon-byron/some-have-accused-me-of-a-strange-design-against-the-creed-and-morals/) [George Gordon Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-gordon-byron/) > [Paul Valery speaks of the 'une ligne donnee' of a poem. One line is given to the poet by God or by nature, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-spender/paul-valery-speaks-of-the-une-ligne-donnee-of-a-poem-one-line-is/) [Stephen Spender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-spender/) > [“Tonight I watched the sun set at Ponte Vecchio. I think its safe to say I have finally found the place that feels right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenna-evans-welch/tonight-i-watched-the-sun-set-at-ponte-vecchio-i-think-its-safe-to/) [Jenna Evans Welch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenna-evans-welch/) > [Recently I stood in the desert, far out side of L. A., and watched the sun set on a circus tent from 1930. Every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pattinson/recently-i-stood-in-the-desert-far-out-side-of-l-a-and-watched-the/) [Robert Pattinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pattinson/) > [“Banks watched the sun creep over the forest of oak trees and a crack of light broke through the night and grew longer and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-mcbride/banks-watched-the-sun-creep-over-the-forest-of-oak-trees-and-a-crack/) Matthew McBride > [One day, I watched the sun setting forty-four times…You know...when one is so terribly sad, one loves sunsets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/one-day-i-watched-the-sun-setting-forty-four-times-you-know-when-one/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [I watched the sun again, it's leaving now. I've spent all night long tyring to figure out. What I've lost and what I've failed.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blessthefall/i-watched-the-sun-again-it-s-leaving-now-i-ve-spent-all-night-long/) Blessthefall ## More by Richard Blanco > [Entering into writing a poem is an emotional endeavor for me as well as a spiritual and creative one. Having to write those poems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-blanco/entering-into-writing-a-poem-is-an-emotional-endeavor-for-me-as-well/) [Richard Blanco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-blanco/) > [Artists are the emotional historians of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-blanco/artists-are-the-emotional-historians-of-the-world/) [Richard Blanco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-blanco/) > [Your life is a work of art that you will work on the rest of your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-blanco/your-life-is-a-work-of-art-that-you-will-work-on-the-rest-of-your-life/) [Richard Blanco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-blanco/) > [We have always been searching for home. It's in our art... our religion... everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-blanco/we-have-always-been-searching-for-home-it-s-in-our-art-our-religion/) [Richard Blanco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-blanco/) > [What was transformative was being at the inauguration, reading my poem, and realizing that the quest for home and identity had always been part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-blanco/what-was-transformative-was-being-at-the-inauguration-reading-my-poem/) [Richard Blanco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-blanco/) > [Everything is symbolic. If they'd picked some middle-aged white guy, well, that would have been a symbol, but it wouldn't have been shocking because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-blanco/everything-is-symbolic-if-they-d-picked-some-middle-aged-white-guy/) [Richard Blanco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-blanco/) > [I was at a stage in my life where I felt sort of comfortable being a dislocated person emotionally, feeling in some ways like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-blanco/i-was-at-a-stage-in-my-life-where-i-felt-sort-of-comfortable-being-a/) [Richard Blanco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-blanco/) > [Good art and a good life answers questions. Great art and a great life asks questions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-blanco/good-art-and-a-good-life-answers-questions-great-art-and-a-great-life/) [Richard Blanco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-blanco/) > [As an immigrant, there's a little part of you that always says, "Well, I'm not a hundred percent American." America is some other little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-blanco/as-an-immigrant-there-s-a-little-part-of-you-that-always-says-well-i/) [Richard Blanco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-blanco/) > [“to know a country takes all we know of love: some days better than others, but never easy to keep our promise every morning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-blanco/to-know-a-country-takes-all-we-know-of-love-some-days-better-than/) [Richard Blanco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-blanco/) > [I like the labels because I think they tell my story in a very concise way: gay, Latino. I think the responsibility that comes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-blanco/i-like-the-labels-because-i-think-they-tell-my-story-in-a-very/) [Richard Blanco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-blanco/) [Explore all 12 Richard Blanco quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-blanco/) ## More Community quotes > [Race is the idea that a human being is more superior than another human being, race in society grants illusional rights to mistreat each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-limn/race-is-the-idea-that-a-human-being-is-more-superior-than-another/) [Jeremy Limn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-limn/) > [But we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the community of nations, we must be second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikram-sarabhai/but-we-are-convinced-that-if-we-are-to-play-a-meaningful-role/) [Vikram Sarabhai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikram-sarabhai/) > [In the hearing world, I'm constantly having to lip-read and trying to understand what's going on. Sign language is so beautiful. It gives you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-ayling-ellis/in-the-hearing-world-i-m-constantly-having-to-lip-read-and-trying-to/) [Rose Ayling-Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-ayling-ellis/) > [The strains and stresses suffered by the individual in society are grounded in the normal functioning of that society (and of the individual!) rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/the-strains-and-stresses-suffered-by-the-individual-in-society-are/) [Herbert Marcuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/) > [Hackney gets a bit of a bad rap, but it's the only place I've ever lived that felt like a community. I know my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-horgan/hackney-gets-a-bit-of-a-bad-rap-but-it-s-the-only-place-i-ve-ever/) [Sharon Horgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-horgan/) > [ The social \[media channel\] isn't about beauty contests and popularity contests. They're a distortion, a caricature of the real thing. It's about trust, connection,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umair-haque/the-social-media-channel-isn-t-about-beauty-contests-and-popularity/) [Umair Haque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umair-haque/) > [We're at a point in history were we have to become a part of the neighborhood of inhabited planets, like a neighborhood of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-mitchell/we-re-at-a-point-in-history-were-we-have-to-become-a-part-of-the/) [Edgar Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-mitchell/) > [I have to feel the audience. I enjoy that feeling of community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-gahan/i-have-to-feel-the-audience-i-enjoy-that-feeling-of-community/) [Dave Gahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-gahan/) > [It rolls off my back. Ridicule doesn't mean anything - even from people you're supposed to wear knee pads around, like the scientific community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-schultz/it-rolls-off-my-back-ridicule-doesn-t-mean-anything-even-from-people/) [Dwight Schultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-schultz/) > [Jeff Chu's pilgrimage across America to discover his own place as a gay man in the Christian church as well as attitudes about being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-freitas/jeff-chu-s-pilgrimage-across-america-to-discover-his-own-place-as-a/) [Donna Freitas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-freitas/) > [I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-think-that-most-of-us-anyway-read-these-stories-that-we-know-are/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [Human life consists of doing certain things ... to take part in the life of the community; to be able to talk about subjects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/human-life-consists-of-doing-certain-things-to-take-part-in-the-life/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [Parents who are stressed or disturbed will have more difficulty in meeting their children's needs. Parents who have little support--from friends, relatives, neighbors, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-kamerman/parents-who-are-stressed-or-disturbed-will-have-more-difficulty-in/) Sheila Kamerman > [I think what was special about 'Music by Prudence' was the classic story of the title subject's life path - from being an outcast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-think-what-was-special-about-music-by-prudence-was-the-classic/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [Perhaps the greatest and least visible form of impoverishment caused by the Corporate State is the destruction of community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-a-reich/perhaps-the-greatest-and-least-visible-form-of-impoverishment-caused/) [Charles A. Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-a-reich/) [Browse all 13,840 Community quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I had been thinking about the question, \"What do I love about America?\" I kept coming back to this idea of community and home, which already obsessed me in my work. But I couldn't quite figure out how to lead beyond my immediate experience. Then I was just standing at the kitchen sink, and I watched the sun rise, and I thought, \"How many hundreds of thousands of people are watching the same sun rise right now?\" I just knew the poem would go from that line.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Richard Blanco" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-blanco/i-had-been-thinking-about-the-question-what-do-i-love-about-america-i/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Community" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-blanco/i-had-been-thinking-about-the-question-what-do-i-love-about-america-i/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/274/richard-blanco-37135_community_i-had-been-thinking-about-the-question-w_848524.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/274/richard-blanco-37135_community_i-had-been-thinking-about-the-question-w_848524.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/274/richard-blanco-37135_community_i-had-been-thinking-about-the-question-w_848524.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I had been thinking about the question, \"What do I love about America?\" I kept coming back to this idea of…” — Richard Blanco", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Richard Blanco", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-blanco/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I had been thinking about the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-blanco/i-had-been-thinking-about-the-question-what-do-i-love-about-america-i/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-blanco/i-had-been-thinking-about-the-question-what-do-i-love-about-america-i/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```