What Happens Now. My Post-Election Thoughts

I’ve not responded to the election news until now because frankly I feel so betrayed by my fellow Americans and so disappointed in people who would choose Nazis and fascists, who would elect men who have and want to rob women of their rights, who don’t care about people who are struggling, who want to get rid of Obamacare and social security…. Those Americans who voted for them chose evil, and now we all have to live with it.

I’ve also not responded because I’ve been floundering with how to live through the next four years and praying to who and whatever might be listening that it’s only two that the GOP has full power. The thing that is not changing is that the world will turn and we must go on.

But how? I feel helpless in so many ways. But here’s what I’ve decided. For now, I will avoid news. I can’t handle it. I have to prioritize my mental health. That will include The Daily Show and Stephen Cobert and John Oliver for now. And yes, part of me plans to live with my head in the sand and my fingers in my ears while I ignore the outer world. Because I can do precious little.

That said, what I can do is resist whenever possible. I don’t know what that will look like, but I will do it. The next thing I can do is concentrated on my friends and family and look after them as best I can. Trouble is coming for many and I’m relatively protected despite being a woman. So when I can I will do what I can. I think this is something we all need to do. Maybe it’s something as little as connecting people to resources. Or sending a little money when I can. Or offering encouragement and hugs. Or jokes. Or whatever I can while also keeping myself afloat and going.

We all have a large network of people who’s lives we touch a lot, through social media and just at the grocery checkout line. Check in with each other. Notice need when you can. Help if you can, offer kind words when you can. Tell people they are loved and needed. When you can, keep educating yourselves. Education defeats tyranny; knowledge is power. Share books. Be the underground railroad and not just for women in red states who need healthcare, or LGBTQ+ or non-white people, or non-Christians, be the underground railroad for knowledge, safety, choice, and know that what you’re doing is lying in wait for the right time and the means to strike against whatever shape evil takes in your world.

I shall write. Almost all my books are about good defeating evil, about people finding justice, about community and the love of family, friends, and lovers. I’ve struggled to write this last year. My health has been crappy the last four or five months and I’m still working on the right cocktail of medications to keep things in order. I’ve given far too much mental space to politics. So now I will give it to where it’s needed and can help the most. Writing is the most powerful thing I can do at this point to resist. So I will.

This is my plan. We lost the battle, and the war will be ugly, but we are resilient, and we are on the side of good. I will be inspired by Ukraine. I will be inspired by all those who’ve fought and strived against evil. Most of all, I will not accept that this is America’s future.

I keep thinking of William Butler Yeats’ poem: Easter, 1916. I wonder what terrible beauty has been born from this election. Ireland suffered under the heels of brutal power for centuries and they never gave up. They have a lot to teach us.

I keep thinking of a song from Rocky Horror Picture show: Over at Frankenstein’s Place. This unruly, uncontrollable, explosively transgressive and unrepentantly rebellious movie blatantly defied cultural norms. It told us being ourselves was valued no matter who we are. That love is possible anywhere and it’s to be cherished. It taught us that even though Frank is killed by those who hate who he is, the seeds of change have been planted and as Peter Gabriel said in Biko, “You can blow out a candle, but you can’t blow out a fire/ Once the flames begin to catch, the wind will blow it higher.”

So let us become the wind. Let us be the storm. Let us cause a conflagration that no one can put out.