Election Results

As I waited for the election results last week, I had the hardest time. I woke up Wednesday, didn't read anything, but looked at the map showing the race close and Trump in the lead in most of the swing states and immediately fell into a deep funk. I thought I'd been wrong to hope things would or could change.

Trump has been so divisive, his handling of the virus so inept, his manner so crude, his lies so plentiful, I quit listening to him speak long ago. It's been a tough four years for me. The way he treats women brings back memories of the bad ol' days when I thought I had to put up with harassment at work as part of the price of employment, of the days when it was customary for men to get away with judging women based on their appearance, not the competencies we brought to our jobs.

I have tried and tried, but still don't understand how so many of my fellow Americans - some seventy million of them per the election results - see him so differently than I. Character counts, dammit!

I'm not overly prone to anxiety, but at one point this week I ended up taking an anti-anxiety med: I curled up under my soft white blanket that Libby gave me, and one of the cats came and purred at me for thirty minutes. I focused on breathing and connecting to what is real for me - and lo and behold, it worked. I got up much calmer and more centered than I had been when I laid down. (I thought about contacting my insurance company to see if they'd cover any part of the med - say, the kitty litter? - then thought better of it...)

As the week went on, and the numbers continued to shift, I began to believe, despite myself, that not all hope was lost. Then came Saturday's news that Biden had won Pennsylvania, and my heart leapt with joy. I wasn't alone in wanting, needing, a more competent leader to be President, after all. Seventy-four million (and counting) people in this country agreed with me. As I listened to his speech that evening, the tension I hadn't allowed myself to acknowledge leaked out my eyes.

He smiles real smiles. He speaks in full sentences. He gives his family real hugs. He spoke of unity and building bridges. He is already assembling a group of people who will listen to science and work to lead us out of the shadow of the coronavirus, which is starting to strike too close to home. Instead of denying climate change exists, he will delve into ways we can, maybe perhaps, still soften the blow it is poised to deliver to our world. I know he has a number of daunting uphill battles to fight, but he will at least TRY to work with those who disagree with him.

Let the healing begin!