I’ve been laughing (at times with more ease than others) about leaving the country the day after the election. Airports still running, I’d allow.
Mom and I sat down last night to watch what I thought would be the typical media hype/yammering followed by the moment of deflation – it’s over and it wasn’t such a big deal after all. Except of course, many of us thought we’d have this happy moment of having elected the first woman president and then we could get on about our business of wondering what all the hype was about.
When the first results started scrolling though… not as expected by most. About an hour in, the on-screen faces changed. What was going on.
And of course the rest is, as they say, history.
Went to bed. Didn’t sleep very well. The cats didn’t either. Woke up. Here we are.
I’m so sad for my young co-workers who have suffered that first stunning loss – when all looks so bright and hopeful in the future and then things don’t go as intended. I’m sad for all of us who believe and stand behind ideals like equality and fairness for everyone, and who want to offer our hand to those in the world who need help.
Who knows what will happen now. I sure don’t. I do know that I’ll probably get asked a lot of questions about what happened and what will happen and I’m not sure I can speak to the future.
I urge all my friends and family though to remember that what happened is part of what America is and more importantly WE are what America is. This is not the time to withdraw into hopelessness and darkness. This is the time to shine the light of goodness and community and hope and to work hard to achieve, on a neighborhood, community, state and national level, all the things we think are important: inclusiveness, commitment, fairness, accountability. All the things.
Don’t let fear win. This is still our country and we are responsible for seeing it through and keeping it on the correct path. That calls for our time, our words and our money and more importantly us. Our ideas, our willingness to listen, to discuss, to communicate clearly and understandably, to allow for differences, to forgive and our ability to move forward — these all will bring us through to whatever comes next.
To all my friends and co-workers who found yourself singled out during the campaign for your personal or religious preferences or race or country of origin or gender, I love and support you. I hope this is the moment that creates a space to make our country a much better place.
We have work to do.
