Solace
So the election didn't go how I wanted it to. I am saddened and disappointed.
I also had a feeling it was going to happen.
But instead of autopsying things and figuring out what didn't go right and what went horribly wrong, I'm focusing on something else.
Solace.
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Being mad about Tuesday is expected. I am. Lord knows I am. But we can't do anything about the past. We have to look ahead.
I take solace in knowing that on some level, the MAGA movement will never find peace.
Sure, they won the government and are happy now, but despite their current joyful attitude there will always be a sexy M&M that marketing changes clothing on.
Or a Mr. Potato Head that comes with both the "boy" and "girl" pieces.
Or a pancake syrup bottle.
Or a video game character who isn't showing enough boob.
Or a person whose skin is darker than theirs.
Or because a video game console now has a "power save" option.
Or a book that says "be proud of who you are".
Or some other media with a queer subtext that they didn't get until a guy who eats and inordinate amount of liver and sells them male enhancement pills full of sawdust told them.
Or a business that wants to make their workforce look a little less homogeneous.
Or someone who worships differently than they do. Or worse to them, doesn't at all.
Or a whole litany of other things.
"Triggering the libs" is their only goal and it fuels their body politic, but it's also a smokescreen. A projection. A declaration of fear. An uncontrollable, immutable reflex of knowing deep down that they will continue to live life being mad about every little thing that rears its head that isn't white, or evangelical christian, or conservative.
To be angry at actual issues facing their friends and neighbors is to admit the status quo is not working. To admit that they might actually be wrong about things. To be angry about the real world is work. To not be angry at their pet issues is to face oblivion.
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I take solace in knowing I have four beautiful children who worship the ground I walk on, though I can't imagine why.
Their love for me drives me and fuels me. Though I may be scared for my future and theirs, the want to make this world better for them and for everyone else is an unquenchable fire inside me that drives me to do more and be better.
In the end, I may not reach all of my goals. I may not vastly improve the world at large. But I know I tried. And so do they.
You can have all of the money in the world, but if the people you love hate you, what do you have?
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I take solace in knowing that I have a love, a true, and deep, and abiding love for a woman who cares just as much (if not more) than I do about other people.
I can confidently say that the feeling is mutual.
It's a love that those who are jubilant on Wednesday morning don't know, and will never know, because to be full of so much hate is to be completely bereft of love.
You can have all of the followers or fans in the world. But if you can't know love, what do you have?
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I take solace in knowing that my work matters.
Whether that's my job helping people through my employer or my wife's non-profit helping people, we're local, and we're there. We're putting in the work.
What we're doing matters, and is impacting people in a positive way every single day.
And even if all of that were to disappear tomorrow, I'm still going to be helping. We're still going to be helping.
What do you wish to preserve? Do that, and do that until someone stops you. And even if they do, let it only be a bump in the road and not a block.
You can have all of the influence in the world, but if you despise those you have influence over, what do you have?
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Despair is fine. Anger is fine. To every thing there is a season.
There is also work to be done. I will be working. And I will be doing it while keeping these solaces close.