Moving Forward in a Time of Hurt and Concern

I don’t do politics. I haven’t written anything about the election. I haven’t shared anything about the election. I haven’t engaged in discussions online. I haven’t even liked a single political post.

Political talk is something I reserve for face-to-face conversations with people I love and respect. Where we can see each other’s reactions and gauge each other’s tone.

But as our world swirls with rage, disbelief and disappointment, I can’t sit here and be quiet about it.

I woke up this morning at 5:45 with the baby as I have done every morning since the time change. I didn’t go to sleep until after 1:00, when the reporting had slowed and a winner didn’t seem imminent.

I flipped open my laptop and the map I’d spent hours analyzing last night was still up and the results apparent.

I turned to my Facebook feed and began scrolling post after post of disheveled friends. I had to scroll for quite a few minutes before finding anything positive and not election related. (Mind you, I still have a good amount of friends in Ireland whose day started long before mine and who tend to lean left as it is.)

I sat. I processed. I nursed my hungry boy. I took it all in as I have over the past year and a half (since my now lanky boy who runs, climbs, waves and screams “mo-mo-mo!” was just a tiny little nugget in my belly).

And I understood. I understood the sadness. The resentment. The blame. The hurting. I get it.

My girls wandered downstairs. They had stayed up with me to watch the results but Sugarplum passed out on the couch about 9:30 and Honeybun bumbled up to bed an hour later after screaming “no!” as each state was called, no matter who won. They were eager to hear the results.

I gave them the news. We ate the banana bread we’d made together last night. I don’t even think we talked about it any more. And after, we watched the acceptance speech.

But the feelings my friends were showing never came up in me. Perhaps I was better prepared for this, not eager for either choice, and therefore not disappointed knowing either way would have resulted in the same, really.

And still, hours later and more time to process and encounter more reactions as the world awakens, I still don’t have the feelings of despair in my stomach that I had when the last president was elected and that I had the entire day of his inauguration.

Because I don’t know that there is anything to be concerned about.

Trump said a lot of horrible things, there’s no denying that. But to say that he won because we live in a bigoted, racist, misogynist society is a little misguided. I would venture to guess that as many people (or maybe even more) voted against her as actually voted for him.

But more importantly, a lot of the distaste for him is because he’s a liar. So what if all those things he said were lies? What if he doesn’t actually believe any of it? (Aside from the things about using women, those are very different.)

What if he was just playing the game? I’ve always felt he was just saying what people wanted to hear. He was pandering to the vote that he knew would get him elected.

It’s not always a matter of the best man wins. In this case, it was a matter of the best player winning.

I personally am going to step back and wait. I’m going to see what actually happens. I’m going to wait for the changes and choices he actually makes as president.

And in the meantime, I’m going to keep doing what I’ve always done. I’m going to continue teaching love instead of hate. I’m going to show my kids all the wonderful things out country and world has to offer. I’m going to talk to them truthfully about history and the world we live in. I’m going to help them see the good in people and believe in the possibilities of a bright future.

I’m going to do what I can to create a better world for my kids by making them better people.