Just
like Obama predicted, the sun rose on November 9th. It rose on the
10th, and if you’re reading this, it rose on the 11th
too. The sick feeling of dread has been camped out in my chest.
I’m
still here:
I
haven’t been able to turn on the television news but I have been doing a
lot of online reading. I need to soak this all in. I’m trying to get to a place
where I am inspired and ready to get to work. Before that happens, I have to
take time to grieve and process everything. But it feels like every day there
is something new to process.
For
anyone who is still hurting and is scared, here are a couple things I have
found that have helped me begin to feel better and get inspired.
Talk to others who are hurting.
I
can’t tell you how much this has helped. Check in with your family, friends,
coworkers. Talk. It really helps to know you’re not alone in your grief and
worry.
Watch Van Jones' Facebook video.
Van
Jones posted and excellent video on Facebook. I can't post it on here, but to find it, "like" his page. On his page, scroll down a bit and you will see it. It's called Surviving the Whitelash. It is about 23 minutes long, and
it is the best thing I have listened to post election night. It gave me some
hope. Van doesn’t sugar coat anything, but he did a good job of getting me
focused. If you’re having a hard time dealing with everything, I highly
recommend you watch this.
Read this letter from Leslie Knope.
It will light a spark under you.
Photo: NBC
Donate to causes you support. Causes
that NEED us right now.
Since election night, I donated to Planned Parenthood, RAINN, Greenpeace, and the ACLU Nationwide. I didn’t donate hundreds of dollars, but I know every
little bit helps.
Remember that there is a lot of hope for America. It may not seem like that now, but here is some inspiration...
This
is not my last post about the election and the presidency. I have a lot to say,
and I have really enjoyed reading the comments on my previous posts.
We
have to stick together. None of this moving to Canada crap. I’m sure Canada is
nice, but America needs us.
How are you doing?
I agree, America needs us now. The best thing all of us can do is stop this "doom and gloom" feeling and remember that nothing bad has happened at this moment. Let's just wait and see what is to come. All we can do is pray that decisions will be made that are beneficial to ALL Americans. Hope you feel better Megan.
ReplyDeleteAnd see I do feel like something bad has happened. We elected an erratic, unfocused and uneducated racist monster. It is hard for me to hope his decisions will benefit everyone because he ran a campaign and a platform that absolutely does not.
DeleteAlso, there have been many reported incidents around the country of people being targeted for being a minority or gay. Several schools around here have had incidents. In one, students marched down the hall with a Trump sign and said "White Power"! At my alma mater high school, students in the cafeteria were shouting at a Latina student that Trump was going to deport her.
DeleteOh I absolutely agree with you Megan that those incidents are horrible and should not happen (ever). All I meant in the above comment was that the president elect hasn't even taken office yet so no decisions on anything have been made. That is all. I'm just trying to stay positive here.
DeleteYou and Paul are definitely similar. He is a very positive person and I admire his and your ability to be that way! Because there are things I lose sleep over that if I could just get them out of my mind, I'd be better off!
DeleteI hope my positive mind frame comes soon. I guess for better or worse, I tend to be a realist... not in the sense that I think I *know* what's going to happen in my life, but in the sense that I try not to get myself too excited for a good outcome because I don't want to end up being disappointed.
I feel like this may become a good blog post discussion! Are you an optimist, pessimist, or realist??? :)
I have had to really avoid Facebook--I thought after the election, people would stop posting inflammatory stuff, but it is even worse. The pro-Trumpers are gloating. The pro-Hillary people are angry. It gives me a stomach ache. I'm just trying to move on. I did sign that petition about the electoral college, tho.
ReplyDeleteI know a lot of people are angry. I'm not angry yet. I'm wondering if I am going to get to that emotion? I am very sad, and when I think about national security/foreign policy/our military I get scared. Like this HUGE wave of fear!
DeleteReading your blog gives me so much hope! I haven't watched the news, until now... Roger keeps CNN on all the time... I'm inspired by the protest, reminds me that I'm not alone.
ReplyDeleteI get angry now at those who are saying "let's move on, give him a chance, he hasn't even taken office." He doesn't need to take office for me to see what an awful person he is. But I'm not afraid of him, I'm afraid of his followers, the ones who are acting on his words now.
Oh I have not had CNN on since about 9:30 on Nov 8th! I can't do it. :( I wish all of the protests were peaceful. I know a lot are peaceful, and it's their constitutional right to do so peacefully.
DeleteI do struggle with the "let's get him a chance" outlook- even though that's basically what Hillary and Obama said. I struggle because he TOLD us what he's going to do, and it's terrifying. That's why we are skeptical of the give him a chance thing.
Great video by Van Jones! Thank you for posting that. I am right there with you, my friend. We gotta stick together...we will get through this. Hugs. xo
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you watched it. I plan to watch it again in a couple days.
DeleteI love the last two points about giving hope to our future. Let's hold onto that!
ReplyDeleteYes!
DeleteThanks.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same - even having the news on mute is still making me want to vomit. I can't even read his name or hear it without feeling panicked. I'd rather feel this way than be used to it, to feel like it's normal. People are trying too hard to normalize this, and it's not okay.
ReplyDeleteI'm avoiding talking to people if I can help it. I'm frustrated that people aren't taking my cues and are trying to reach out to me for conversation or my opinion on things and right now I'm trying desperately to heal and focus on self-care. Like you, I'm reading a lot online, but I like to have the choice to skim past something. It's hard when people are messaging me links, or saying "look at this terrible thing", or whatnot. I just want them all to find someone else to hold their hand, which is maybe cruel of me, but I just can't be that person right now.
Omg I scroll through any picture of him. I was so looking forward to possibly never having to hear him open up his racist, bigoted, uneducated mouth ever again. Well fuck me.
DeleteIt's not cruel, like they say, you have to put on your own oxygen max before you can help someone else with their's!
Having to look at his face or hear him speak makes my stomach turn.... I was hoping he'd go away forever.
DeleteIt has helped me to speak with others (co-workers, friends) who feel the same. It makes me feel less alone (although I know that here in CA this is luckily the norm).
I'm glad you have plenty of people to talk to about it. It's such an odd feeling to feel so alone yet MILLIONS of people agree with you.
DeleteI love that you're still posting about this. I've taken comfort in reading posts from the very few bloggers who are willing to talk about this. It's important and I'm not yet ready to just sweep it under the rug and skip off into the sunset.
ReplyDeleteI am very gradually finding my motivation to get to work. I think the silver lining of all this is that it has been a huge wake up call for a hell of a lot of people, myself included. Hopefully the one take away from this is that more people realize it's no longer acceptable to just sit on the sidelines.
Oh yes, I will keep talking. We can't act like this is NORMAL. This is NOT normal. And by "this", I mean an erratic, racist, uneducated, lying monster. Not being dramatic here, it's the truth. So you can count on me for not treating this as anything but strange, horrible, and not to be taken lightly.
DeleteAs far as people being afraid to talk about "politics", I think in a way they are afraid to own their beliefs and/or don't want to offend people. I am proud of my beliefs and am open to talking about them with ANYONE. As long as it is a conversation and not a debate. Oh, and as long as facts are involved!