I am thankful that we have made it to the other side of Election day. I know I was not the only one who worried about what this outcome could be. I struggled with the feelings of despair and hope. There was the part of me that said We need to win by a landslide and the other side said I don’t care how little we win by.
I just needed to know that a change would take place.
I have always tried to stay involved in politics and there was a time that I thought that would be the way I could be a change agent but the more I learned, the more I became disillusioned with the process. It brought me to social work and for that, I am thankful.
As I added little humans to my tribe, I hoped that politics would be one of the many topics I would start talking about right from the beginning with them because I wanted to be able to educate them in areas that we don’t often get educated on and let them know right from the beginning that their involvement or lack of it matters.
For 4 years, I have spoken about politics with my spouse in hushed tones. I did not speak about this administration to them, how could I talk about being a good person to one another and then explain who was voted into office? It doesn’t make sense to a small child and on some levels, it doesn’t make sense to me.
As the numbers came and we saw the announcement of Biden and Harris, whew…the range of emotions. I felt like I was holding back a deluge of words that started to break open as I started talking to my children about our President & Vice-President Elect. The importance of this moment for many reasons and how we would be talking about politics a lot.
We sat to watch the victory speeches of Vice-President Elect, Kamala Harris, and President Elect, Joe Biden. Seeing Kamala Harris walk onto that stage and begin speaking, a sigh released from me that I did not expect. It felt like I had been holding my breath for this whole administration and I was able to release it and take a deep breath in and with that came tears of joy and relief. I know my babies were looking at me like, “Mommy, you ok?” and I just let them know this was a big moment and tears don’t always mean sadness.
I also recognize in all this that I am angry. Angry that this was a close election. We won and yet this election showed how many people still support an individual who displays all the “isms” and “ists” and were fine with keeping that kind of person as a “leader”.
Why am I sharing all this with you? Because I know that whomever is in office doesn’t mean the fight is over, it just lets us know where we are starting from. It means that we still have to hold people accountable, stand up for what we believe in, and come together as a community because as we have seen- we can do great things when we work together.
It also means that we all may carry a range of emotions, like what I have shared, about what is taking place in our country, our community, and within ourselves. Acknowledge what shows up within you, take a deep breath, give yourself some space, and take a rest when needed.
Caring for your physical and mental health doesn’t end now, it must continue.
“Without inner change there can be no outer change. Without collective change, no change matters.”
