Now I know many of the readers of this blog are in the UK. Thank you for that :) And maybe you are not following what has happened in the US. Though I think the entire world has been watching. I don’t know how you feel but my brother called me this morning and he said something which resonated with me.

He said that in the Dr. Seuss story of the Grinch. The Grinch took everything from Whoville overnight and yet on Christmas morning the Whos all woke up and came together, they held hands, they sang around the tree. Their unity, their choice to come together and hold onto what they still had which was each other… That is what we need to do. Now, I’m not saying “he who shall not be named” is the Grinch. I’m not saying that, but maybe, just maybe, if we unite together in a profound way which shows America and the rest of the world that we cannot be broken and we will see good prevail, maybe “he who shall not be named” will see his heart grow three sizes. Who knows? #who

My best friend Natalie messaged me to help console and calm me. She shared “Dan (Rather) rather sums up my feelings: we have a system with built in checks and balances by the constitution and bill of rights. Presidents are powerful, but they are not ALL powerful.” This is true. Though both the Senate and the House are now Republican leaning… But I need to have faith that everyone, EVERYONE, in a non-partisan effort, will have their eye on, “he who shall not be named” and he will not have an opportunity, no room for error, he will need to step up to the place and be a leader the rest of the popular vote can, if not get behind, at least say okay we can get through the next four years.

I voted for Hillary Clinton.

I’m 35 years old, but I have never in my life seen such a divide with regard to the presidency. Trending hashtags right now include things like #ImStillWithHer #NotMyPresident and trending news like “Immigration to Canada.” I’ve never seen anything like this. I’ve also never seen someone like Vladimir Putin be one of the first people to congratulate a newly elected US President. He is not someone I want in the ear of an American leader. I think this speaks for itself in so many ways. But this cannot be what we do. Maybe let ourselves have a time of mourning so to speak, get the emotions out, and then we need to pull up our bloomers and get on with it.

Where do we go from here? Hopefully, since “he who shall not be named” is a business man he will be able to create a plan and take strides to help build our economy and create new jobs. And I think this needs to happen across all classes and skill sets. This man seems to know a thing or two about strategy. Sadly though I wish I could believe a word he says. Although those nicer than I have phrased it as such, “uniquely fact-challenged candidate.” Hopefully he will be able to bring on an administration who will be able to get the facts straight. Even when the truth hurts. We cannot allow racism, sexism, ageism, ablism, none of the -isms, we cannot allow those platforms to become a way of normalcy. That cannot happen. We cannot let that be our future. We need to continue to speak out for justice and for respect for all people. Notice I did not say tolerance. I don’t want people to “tolerate” each other, I want us to appreciate and respect each other.

It’s time to figure out who to improve our democracy. We need to continue to love, to give each other hope, to stare evil in the face and not back down. I know I sound like Care-A-Lot Care Bear and there should be a rainbow shooting out of my chest right now, but I have to find something, some glimmer of light to hold onto.

I know I will need to say his name eventually but right now it is too raw, this is my day of mourning. Maybe tomorrow.

But I’m not going to say anything is rigged. I’m not going to be one of those people. There were record turnouts at the poll and that is a good thing. Voting is a right, but it is also a privilege not all people have and I am glad the people voted.

Moving forward. Not even the President of the United States can change who I am. They cannot change how I raise my children. They cannot change how I treat myself, my colleagues, my neighbors. Any sort of change still begins with each of us. Obviously, collectively, we hold way more power than we realize. We need to take this to heart and, for lack of a better phrase, use it for good. What can we do to repair and mend what has been damaged? What can we do to create new paths forward to improve the systemic issues we now see so clearly and how can we improve the policy making process? As my brother so often tells me, this is no time to be complacent.

“If a kingdom is divided against itself, it cannot stand.”