I think much like the rest of the country, it has taken a few days for the election results to sink in. We spent so much time hearing about, reading about and discussing the campaigns that it is hard to believe it's over.
Over and not the result I wanted. I wrestle with how to deal with what the results mean. Not literally, but what it says about the citizens of our country. I tell myself that many people must have voted Republican out of fear. Fear in relation to the threat of terrorism.
To consider the other options is too depressing. I don't want to think that a majority of my fellow Americans don't care. Don't care about improving the quality of and access to education. Don't care about providing healthcare services to everyone regardless of economic status. Don't care about investing in programs to prevent/treat illness, substance abuse, mental illness, pregnancy and crime. Don't care about rewarding people for public service. Don't care about reproductive rights, lifesaving research and freedom of choice when it comes to your own body. Don't care about protecting civil rights for all people. Don't care about freedom of expression and celebration of things that are different from the status quo. Don't care about the choice to worship or not worship any god(dess)/entity/spirit/person that we feel like. Don't care about finding alternative energy sources, protecting the environment, protecting non-human living creatures and our most beautiful natural habitats. Don't care about being part of a global coalition unless we can exploit it financially.
It's the kind of thing that makes you worry about bringing children into this world. But then I remember that even though sometimes it feels like it. I am not alone. There are people, some very close and some not even known, who believe in the things that I do. People who give me hope. People who are raising children that will bring the same hope to my son when he needs it.