Final night time, the boys and I fell asleep at 10 p.m. with out but figuring out who received the election. Anton needed to sleep in my mattress. At 3 a.m., I awoke with a begin, checked my telephone, and wept. The outcomes weren’t good — particularly for girls, immigrants, LGBT+ of us, the checklist goes on and on.
I considered what to jot down in a put up immediately. Decide-me-ups? Motion objects? A second of silence? It’s laborious to know what to say. What form phrases have you ever been saying to your pals and youngsters? Your individual pretty face within the mirror?
One factor that provides me hope is remembering who we’re. The pictures above present 16 Cup of Jo readers — joyful, caring, humorous, whip good — and there are 1,000,000 extra of us. One million extra! Good males, considerate girls, good youngsters, and giggly kids are throughout us and aren’t going wherever. And that goodness provides up. “There’s no single reply that can remedy all of our future issues,” wrote Octavia E. Butler. “There’s no magic bullet. As a substitute there are millions of solutions — not less than. You will be certainly one of them should you select to be.”
This election just isn’t the tip of the story. Though this nation voted for Trump — such a deep and crushing heartbreak — we’re nonetheless shifting ahead. Wrote Maya Angelou: “We might encounter many defeats, however we should not be defeated. It might even be essential to encounter the defeat, in order that we will know who we’re. In order that we will see, oh, that occurred, and I rose. I did get knocked down flat in entrance of the entire world, and I rose. I didn’t run away – I rose proper the place I’d been knocked down.”
When you really feel overwhelmed immediately, consider small issues you are able to do for now, neighbors you may assist, family members you may textual content. Bear in mind the starfish story? 1000’s of starfish had been washed up on a seashore after a storm. A bit boy was throwing them again into the water, one after the other. An outdated man noticed him and stated, “You’ll by no means be capable of save all of them; you received’t make an actual distinction.” The boy picked up a starfish and stated, “I made a distinction to this one.”
Right here’s a to-do checklist from illustrator Sophie Lucido Johnson:
Sending the largest hug to anybody who wants one, and a lot love, as at all times. xoxo And should you’d like and are in a position, please be a part of us in donating to organizations doing nice work. Cup of Jo is donating $5,000 to every of two organizations, one small, one massive: Ruth’s Refuge, which gives residence furnishings and different necessities to refugees, asylees and asylum seekers in New York Metropolis; and the ACLU, which defends the rights of all individuals nationwide (together with reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights, prisoners’ rights, our proper to vote, and rather more). Cling in there, mates; we’re all right here. xo
(Octavia E. Butler quote by way of Corinne Fay.)
