Election Day 2020

This Election Night…

…Will find me in the arms of the woman I love, listening to music, possibly watching a show, though most nights will find us curled up in bed just talking. There is so much we love to talk about. There is no greater place to be at any time than in her arms, in bed, hearing her voice, enjoying her laugh.

Our lives will go on with whatever outcome greets us in the morning or the next few days that follow. We have no control over that (other than our vote, which we did together) and we definitely possess no control whatever regarding the shenanigans we are hearing some folks may feel pressed to undertake in the wake of the results. So we will give it no thought, we will give it no energy. We will focus on what we can do;

Be better people today than we were yesterday. To each other, to our kids, to whoever we come in contact with that day.

It’s not that we do not care about the outcome, or that we have no interest in the direction of our country. We are passionate about both. We have just decided that fretting over things we cannot control serves no one.

We are gentle people with time-proven simple rules to live by: Be honest. Love courageously. Do better than yesterday. Play fair. Create. Compassion is a real thing. Never stop dreaming. Give of yourself. Time is relative. Be a good example. Learn a little every day. Trust and move forward. Breathe. Enjoy, for life moves swiftly and is over far too soon.

We know that most of you are of the same ilk, the same tribe, the same extended family, and however hard some will work to put labels on us in an attempt to separate us, it is glaringly obvious in talking to a great many of you that we are far more alike than different when it comes down to brass tacks. Take politics out of the picture and we are remarkably alike.

Yes, there are differences. Always have been, always will be.

We just need to come up with a better way to communicate with each other than the crappy way we have fallen victim to. That one is on us. All of us.

Remember that America is a great experiment. It is entirely possible it may fail someday. Great ventures come with the risk of catastrophe. Do yourself a huge favor and turn off the social media, the news, and dive into a few books on the history of the country, of the world, of mankind. It’s full of stories very similar to our current times. We are not going through anything new.

Empires, democracies, civilizations, religions, cults, and the like, come and go. It’s very often not pretty but it’s not the end of the world. Life and love always press ahead.

What does have staying power is us. We who call ourselves teachers, artists, truck drivers, parents, crew members, postal workers, engineers, and the million other roles we occupy and take heart in.

Individuals as varied and different and scattered as the trillions of stars that stare down at us. Separate, but all made of the same stuff and all having an instrumental part in a very beautiful, infinite, and mysterious whole.

Whatever happens, shine on.