It’s useless to try to hide the fact that I’m disappointed. The last couple of days will have a long-reaching effect for the United States and possibly for the world; and at present I’m dubious of positive outcomes. However:
I am very, very grateful to everyone who voted. Thank you. Record turnouts, a better picture of voting America than we’ve had in my lifetime. No matter who we voted for, it befits us to remember that this race was close. That may be cause for hope or for frustration, but at the very least it should help us remember that different viewpoints exist and that we need to take them seriously. Even if we’re on the winning side.
I am tremendously grateful to all the volunteers everywhere who spent months campaigning passionately.
I am enormously proud of my father in Ohio, who worked tirelessly from March through yesterday helping his chosen candidates, from country commissioner to the presidential nominees. He walked streets, attended parades, handed out information, volunteered at the polls. Tuesday night he sat with his local candidates and volunteers and not one of the people they were hoping for won. That’s a hard night.
My brother has proven to be a real support and blessing. We live on opposite coasts and rarely see each other. Yesterday he sent me wonderful words of encouragement and hope for our generation.
I’m grateful to everyone who voices their views reasonably and is willing to engage in debate. Let’s keep it going.
I’m remembering my elementary school teacher, one of the most amazing women in the world, who instilled in me a life-long love of reading and learning, along with an appreciation for people of all religions and skin tones. She gave me the roots which allow me to open my mind without fear. May there be millions more like her. Thanks to good teachers everywhere, the kind that instill curiosity rather than doctrine. Thanks to those who teach how to evaluate, rather than just accept.
Friends from other countries are precious to me, for their opinions and perspectives from the wider world. The USA *is* a part of a wider world, and it’s useful for us to listen to what the rest of the world thinks of us. We might be surprised how little it coincides with our view of ourselves.
Thank you to the courageous people who speak out about their sexuality. To the brave people who report racial injustice, sexual discrimination, and religious intolerance. Thanks to the citizens who are passionate about a cause, and work hard to find information that doesn’t make it to the mainstream in order to keep the rest of us aware.
The human race has been blessed with a number of spiritual leaders through history. Many teach that love is more important than fear; that forgiveness is a better paradigm for life than violence. I am grateful for their example.
Humans have done many terrible things and survived. Today I choose to remember some of the better things: the Parthenon. Poetry. Champagne. Scrabble. Old barns. Symphonies. ArtDeco skyscrapers. Impressionist paintings. Velvet. Literature, from Homer to Harry Potter. Plumbing. Jazz, dancing, and apple pie. Honest belly-wrenching laughter.
And some things that aren’t a part of humanity at all: the sound of raindrops. Majestic mountains and tiny tidepools. Oaks, orchids and thunderstorms.
As the song says, “They can’t take that away from me”. May that line always hold true.
