Election 2016 -- The Morning After

So, it is the morning after the election.  I've thought long and hard about what I wanted to write here. I've written, and rewritten, half a dozen different things, and I hope that what I have to say strikes a chord with you, regardless of which candidate you supported, or which side of the proverbial fence you find yourself standing on.  I am not an American.  But that does not mean that I don't understand how the results of last nights election are going to have not only an impact on America, but a global impact, and that is why I feel that I, too, have a voice in this.

If you followed the election like I did, and saw every debate, every tweet, every ad campaign, all the endless crazy bullshit -- you may feel a sense of satisfaction, or you may feel an overwhelming sense of anxiety and fear.  I have felt many of these things over the last 18 months. I want you to put aside all those things for a minute and focus on what I am about to say.

We're all going to be okay.

We really will.  Because no matter who won or who you voted for (or watched from the sidelines like many of my Canadian friends and family), you will still have the opportunity to fight each day for what you want to see happen in this world.  You can still fight for justice, and love, kindness, and acceptance or equality....whatever you feel is lacking.  You will not fight alone.  You can still make a difference.  In some cases, you can make a bigger difference than the President ever will.  You will be needed every day to promote joy and love and grace.....even if you're tired.  You will be better for it. So will the country, and the world as a whole.

We're all going to be okay.  Even if President Trump ends up being a flaming bag of turd, we will be okay.  We still have our families.  We still have love.  We still have people fighting for what they believe in.  We will have a better understanding of who we are as a people, and how we need to get better.  We will have a better understanding of our capacity for love and for fear.  We will have parties who know that their secrets are never really secret, and that they need to be better.  That benefits all of us.  We have seen disgusting behaviors exposed on both sides, and will be able to teach our children what is, and isn't, okay.  We have seen how easy it is to spread lies.  We have proof for our children that anybody.....and I mean, anybody, can become President (or any great leader for that matter).  We will have hard conversations around the family table where we will change hearts and minds, or have our changed.  We will do it softly or we will do it loudly because, while I myself am not American, I believe that it is the right of ALL people to sometimes be stupid, and sometimes be noble and selfless, and sometimes be a little of both.  We will have a reason to fight harder for what we believe in, and a reason to choose a GOOD fight -- one that makes a difference in positive ways for all of us.  Because that is what America is all about.  That is what humanity is all about.

Even during the darkest times in history, you can look back and see glimmers of brightness shining through, of the light winning over, of unlikely heroes being made -- of the people becoming sharper and stronger, and more clearly defined by who they are and what they stand for because they had no other choice but to choose.  And that, my friends, in necessary.    It is hard.  It is terrible.  It is scary.   It is beautiful.  It is all of those things at once, but magnified a thousand times.  And that is us.  And no matter what has happened with this election, we will be okay.  We will still be us.  We will still be imperfect and flawed, and good and bad, and scared and brave, and we will have so many more opportunities to become better than we are; to maybe even be better than okay.  To maybe, one day, be great.

But until that time comes, we are all going to be okay.

I promise.