on january 4th, i started a new job as a legislative aid to representative morita for the 2010 hawaii state legislative session. it’s been a grueling couple of weeks and with opening day officially kicking off the legislative season yesterday, i expect things to get even tougher.

if you’re a regular visitor here, you’ll know i’m not one for over confidence, or really any confidence at all, but this job is the first i’ve had in a long time that often has me feeling overwhelmed. as someone who thought he had a pretty good bead on how things work at the legislature, feel like i’m learning to walk all over again. unless you’ve spent countless hours and years at the capitol, or have worked a session job before, there’s really no way for me to describe how it is.

its a non-stop job from the minute i walk into the office until the minute i leave. so far, i’m averaging ten-hour days.

don’t get me wrong, i’m not complaining. sure there are times during any given day when i grumble, get stressed or frustrated, but i honored to have the job and i get a thrill just being there. the walk from the parking garage to the capitol is one of my favorite parts of the day. i can’t help but grin as i approach and think to myself that i’m one of a very few who get to work at the seat of state government (too geeky? maybe…). its a great feeling!

i’ve already learned so much about the mechanics of how bills get introduced and move through the legislature. i mean i knew and understood from a macro sort of perspective, but never gave much thought to all the work behind big picture machinations. (also a bit hard to describe in a blog post.)

i met so many cool and helpful people. i think on some level everyone working there, whether permanently or just for the session, shares at least a bit of my feelings. i don’t think any one there sees it as ‘just a job,’ which is also very cool.

i also feel incredibly lucky to be working for easily one of the coolest, most progressive legislators in the entire building. representative morita is a soft-spoken, but extremely stoic and intelligent woman. she’s at the same time progressive on the issues and practical about what she can accomplish in any given legislative cycle. (check out her blog) we don’t get a chance to talk often, as the office is constantly buzzing with work, but when we do, i always learn something new about energy and the environment (she’s the chair of the energy and environmental protection committee in the house).

i’m not sure what else i can say about it. i’m sure part of me will be glad when the session is over (long hours and meager pay are not fun in themselves), but i’m sure another part of me will feel a bit sad. like when i worked as the registration and credentials chair for the 2008 democratic party of hawaii state convention; it was an insane amount of work, but part of me loved every minute of it and when the convention was finally over, i had a bit of an empty feeling. such a big part of my life was convention for so many months, it was a bit hard to go back to regular life. i expect i’ll have a similar feeling when the legislature adjourns for the last time at the end of april.

in the meantime, i’m going to enjoy the ride and try not to complain too much….