November 9, 2016
This morning after pill is a bitter one.
Today one of my daughters called, trying to hold back those
21 year old tears…. “Hi Mom, I just want
to know, what can I do? How can I get
involved? This was a wake-up call. I want to do something.”
The first thought that sprang (sorry) to mind was, “Grow a
penis maybe, if you want to have a voice?”
But I didn’t say that.
I advised, “Talk to me, let it out… be with your friends. What’s happening on campus? Go to a protest. Join the DFA debrief call. Help somebody.
The pendulum will swing back again.
People who’ve been around longer than me assure me that the world will
not end.”
The friend I was with at the time talked to my daughter for
a while, when I was unable to choke out a few of the lines from Hillary’s
concession speech. My friend said a lot
of smart, good things to us both. She actually
saved me today. She made me get up and
out for a walk, treated me to breakfast, and kept it upbeat. When I went low, she went high. What a class act she is!
I guess this is how it’s going to go for a while. We will hold each other up as we try to choke
down this bitter pill of defeat.
I called and texted friends and family, and read news and
posts online for most of the day, allowing waves of grief to come and go.
Our consumption of media has been such a big part of the great divide, as well
as the disappointment I felt today. I
refused to watch tv, and tried to resist mainstream sites. I considered starting an “I hate Nate” campaign
(Nate Silver, pollster, of fivethirtyeight.com). I did not do that, ‘cause love trumps
hate, right? I blew my vegetariany diet and
fell off the weekday no alcohol wagon. I
went to a protest vigil at UC Irvine. In
the end, this was the creative thing I mustered to move forward:
The Pendulum Swings Manifesto
WE WILL
- Accept the results of the 2016 election.
WE WILL NOT
- Let the planet be pillaged.
- Let war be the answer.
- Roll back the clock.
- Go away.
WE WILL
- Keep believing that love trumps hate.
- Seek to understand those who made this decision.
- Find bridges on which we can all stand.
- Turn Congress blue in 2018.
I would ask who’s with me, but that would only lead to
disappointment, which I have enough of at the moment.
