As I stand in the face of a barrage of election-related social media posts, videos, articles and "news" (feels like "news" should always be in quotations these days), I am attempting a conscious decision not to give into the stressful emotional roller coaster that many will ride this evening.
And while I consider using this platform to urge you all to do the same, I suspect "the morning after" will only bring on a new season of uncertainty. As I imagine myself rolling over to my alarm and reading the big news, I am painfully aware that skipping the trauma of tonight will not erase the trauma of tomorrow. Whether it be the legal battles that ensue, or 4 more years, I can't help to think that most of our problems will still be there waiting for us - both on an individual level and as a nation.
No administration can change the forces and their equal and opposite reactions that have been in motion for too long now (since well before our last election). The problems at play are deep and complicated - but we often forget an important thing - that those with the power to change them aren't on the ballot. They may not even be at the ballots.
The problems at play are deep and complicated - but we often forget an important thing - that those with the power to change them aren't on the ballot. They may not even be at the ballots.
That's because the power truly exists within the collective beliefs of the 328.3 million people who make up this country. And more often than not, it's the focus on where our beliefs are either the same or opposing that we recognize a desire to separate ourselves from each other.
The power for change is weakened by division. So, as we prepare to enter tomorrow and whatever reality that holds, we have to ask ourselves what it looks like to stand for change in a world that may nor may not be (wholly) ready for it. We have to ask ourselves in every action we take if what we are putting our energy into is a daily "vote" toward being united or divided.
Because at the end of the day, we can only control one thing - ourselves.
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