Election Eve Pondering and a Promise

November 2, 2020 – Election Eve

I don’t presume to think the bizarre national nightmare that has been the 2020 presidential race will be over tomorrow. I had already been thinking that this was going to drag out with every possible plot twist imaginable. Then the news today was full of stories about businesses in cities all across the country are preparing for post-election unrest and violence. That both shocked me and did not surprise me at all.

So how am I feeling? In my rough moments – stressed and anxious. In my better moments – optimistic and hopeful. Basically I am feeling all the feels – all the feels for myself, for my teenagers who are deeply invested in this election as they come of age in an upside down world, for my core belief that we owe it to each other to fight for the common good, for my fear that another four years of the current administration will break us permanently as a society, and for my hope that we can find a way to remember the things that unite us and work through the things that divide us.

I was thinking about how I felt on this day four years ago, and remembered that I had written briefly about my feelings on the morning after the 2016 election. I went back and read that post, and for better or worse much of it still rings true for me four years later. On the morning after the 2016 election, I asked the question, “How do we respond?” and answered that my belief was that we needed to respond with Grace and Respect.

Somewhere in the past from years we lost the ability to hold grace a respect for each other, for our democracy, and for the common good. That core value has been erased under this current administration, but I do not think it is gone forever. We can work together – no matter who we voted for – to regain societal grace and respect.

My promise to myself, to my kids, to everybody – is to double down on living with grace and respect. I have a feeling we’re going to need both in spades in the days to come, and I know both are key to helping us all move forward and onward.