Last night, the boys and I fell asleep at 10 p.m. without yet knowing who won the election. Anton wanted to sleep in my bed. At 3 a.m., I woke up with a start, checked my phone, and wept. The results were not good — especially for women, immigrants, LGBT+ folks, the list goes on and on.
I thought about what to write in a post today. Pick-me-ups? Action items? A moment of silence? It’s hard to know what to say. What kind words have you been saying to your friends and children? Your own lovely face in the mirror?
One thing that gives me hope is remembering who we are. The photos above show 16 Cup of Jo readers — joyful, caring, funny, whip smart — and there are a million more of us. A million more! Good men, thoughtful women, smart teenagers, and giggly children are all around us and aren’t going anywhere. And that goodness adds up. “There’s no single answer that will solve all of our future problems,” wrote Octavia E. Butler. “There’s no magic bullet. Instead there are thousands of answers — at least. You can be one of them if you choose to be.”
This election is not the end of the story. Even though this country voted for Trump — such a deep and crushing heartbreak — we are still moving forward. Wrote Maya Angelou: “We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated. It may even be necessary to encounter the defeat, so that we can know who we are. So that we can see, oh, that happened, and I rose. I did get knocked down flat in front of the whole world, and I rose. I didn’t run away – I rose right where I’d been knocked down.”
If you feel overwhelmed today, think of small things you can do for now, neighbors you can help, loved ones you can text. Remember the starfish story? Thousands of starfish had been washed up on a beach after a storm. A little boy was throwing them back into the water, one by one. An old man saw him and said, “You’ll never be able to save them all; you won’t make a real difference.” The boy picked up a starfish and said, “I made a difference to this one.”
Here’s a to-do list from illustrator Sophie Lucido Johnson:
Sending the biggest hug to anyone who needs one, and so much love, as always. xoxo And if you’d like and are able, please join us in donating to organizations doing great work. Cup of Jo is donating $5,000 to each of two organizations, one small, one large: Ruth’s Refuge, which provides home furnishings and other essentials to refugees, asylees and asylum seekers in New York City; and the ACLU, which defends the rights of all people nationwide (including reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights, prisoners’ rights, our right to vote, and much more). Hang in there, friends; we are all here. xo
(Octavia E. Butler quote via Corinne Fay.)
