I first heard about Cory Booker’s speech a few hours in, when I idly checked my newsfeed. I figured he was going to go all night as a matter of protest. Seven hours later during my lunch break, I checked C-SPAN. Still going. After I clocked out? Still going. For over 25 hours, Senator Booker talked at length and in passionate detail about the stories of his constituents, the American people as a whole, with all stories centered around the damage done by the Trump administration and how it affected them all. If ever there was an example of what it looks like when someone is filled with righteous indignation on behalf of those who have no voice of their own, this speech was one of the best examples. There was emotion, but there was also focus. Fury, but clarity. Through Senator Booker his constituents had their voices heard—and for every one person who’s suffered? You just know there’s dozens more who are totally unknown, but in a way, heard as well now.

I fully realize that this was in objective, practical terms nothing more than a brief delay of Senate work and a political stunt. But politics is all about stunts. That’s how the electorate is swayed and spoken to! It’s how Ronald Reagan won so handily. Charm, charisma, and the right words, right thoughts, and right actions at the right time are how elections are won. Not even overwhelming money is a foolproof guarantee, as we saw earlier this week in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race.

So sure, this speech didn’t change the world. It didn’t make people’s lives any better by any objective measure. But what about subjective? Feeling? I sure know I’ve had a lighter step since his speech. I’m still working the poor-paying one-step-above-a-call-center job I had beforehand. I’m still sleeping on a cot. I’ve still got rats in the walls and I’m still depressed, but it’s a little easier to manage now. Just seeing what Cory Booker did, knowing that he himself was echoing the ‘good trouble’ his mentor John Lewis sought to get into, it makes facing down the next three-plus years just a little bit easier. Short of drastic, unpredictable incidents, we’re in a marathon now. Anything that makes those next steps a little easier to take, even if it’s just mind over matter? It’s worth it.

Oh, and we can finally not think about that ignorant motherfucker Strom Thurmond when the topic of the longest Congressional speech comes up. I sure hope Hell gets C-SPAN, and that he was forced to watch every minute of it.