It’s been a couple of days since the American election and I know I’m not the only one who is in disbelief. I can palpably feel the swell of sadness in the collective. The way people all over the world are reeling. And for all kinds of different reasons.
This will be a short post. I wanted to write something quickly, something easy to digest, something that would connect me to you, and you to me. I feel in my heart that connecting with each other is so vital right now.
I find myself longing to be comforted and yearning for words of comfort. And so I have turned away from the news for the time being. There is no comfort to be found there. I know I will return but I can’t right now.
What my nervous system needs is calm and so I find myself listening to classical music, reading poetry, and seeking out podcasts and publications that offer me some balance and another take on this time we are living in.
Here is a small list of writers and artists and activists who have helped me feel not so alone in the past few days. Reading wise words from smart and compassionate women is a remedy right now. Some of these words are from books, others from newsletters I get in my inbox, and others from social media.
- Maya Angelou
- Andrea Gibson
- Barbara Kingsolver
- Toni Morrison
- Amanda Palmer
- Rebecca Solnit
And here are two other places that I go, instead of the news!
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/
https://www.themarginalian.org/
I was so very touched by the words in Kamala Harris’s concession speech. She encouraged her fellow country people not to despair. To continue to look for what connects them rather than what places them apart. And to focus on being “the light of optimism, of faith, of truth and service.”
Of service. This feels important. To join together and focus our energies in the places we can make a difference. In our own homes and families. In our friendships. In our communities.
We’re in this together. All of us.
“My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear.
Optimism is better than despair.
So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic.
And we’ll change the world.”
—Jack Layton
