Do you remember a time when you actually got to bury a bad experience--a time when you moved ahead of the negativity, oppression, hate, and bigotry? Moments like those are filled with such relief, elation, and grace--moments like those inspire you.
I remember once when I moved from an oppressive job to a bright, new opportunity. I remember how the excitement translated into a lot of running from place to place. I was so happy that I didn't simply walk to the bank for the loan, or walk to the apartment building to rent my new living situation, or walk to the employment agency to find the new job, or walk into my new place of work. Instead, at each transition, I ran because I was so happy to leave behind the tight, oppressive, micro-managed environment I had been working in. I was so happy to bury that experience, and even though I definitely garnered new learning from that harsh environment, I never wanted to return there--it was over!
I hope I'll feel the same way at the end of this week. I hope that I'll be able to bury the oppression of the Trump years of greed, lawlessness, disrespect, hate, violence, prejudice, and oppression. During the past four years, Trump has been a tremendous time-suck when it comes to the good work possible, unity, and positive development. Trump mired us in his demented mindset that pits us against one another, confuses our good ideas and direction, and mostly leads us all to work for his greedy pit of self-obsession. It has been a great lesson that we have to stay active, work together, and keep focus when it comes to our government for the people by the people. Many of us had taken a back seat with regard to our political activity and investment, and Trump snuck through that hole to become President of the United States, a President that took us backwards rather than forward.
The good news is that we learned a lot during the Trump years. We learned that disrespect, name calling, lies, blaming, and shaming waste our time and capacity. We learned that negtive, self-serving leaders, like Trump, take you back rather than ahead, and that to ignore problems like the pandemic is only to make them worse resulting in tremendous illness and death. We also learned that we have a lot of work to do to shore up our good country for the future--we have to reflect, reimagine, and revise a large number of policies, laws, and lifeways to live better in the United States. There are holes in our country's fabric that need to be repaired or remade in ways that serve all of us better, and we have to work together to figure out how to do that.
No one is sure of what wll happen today--no one knows for sure who will win this Presidential election, but whatever happens, I believe it is clear that we have good work to do to re-make the United States in positive, productive ways. This election process has demonstrated that there are many, many people out there that care about the strength, equity, and good living that's possible in the United States, and no matter what happens today, we can all find areas of USA renovation and growth to get involved with to make better.
I hope we'll be able to bury the bad Trump term this week. I hope we'll be able to move positively forward. Let's see.