Posts tagged woman

Today is the deflation of two years of pent-up stress over this election, of acute anxiety surrounding my future and the future of other vulnerable populations in this country, of uncertainty whether the program and/or organization that employs me would still have funding come January, of lies and blatant manipulation of the American people, of public and private moments of hopelessness for my fellow citizens and our country’s ability to move forward. Today we breathe a sigh of relief, and hope (tentatively, hesitantly) for a better future that suddenly seems much more tangible.

The results of this election won’t change everything.  In fact, they won’t change much, immediately.  Life won’t be perfect, justice hasn’t been achieved, equality isn’t assured.  We won’t achieve everything we hope for right now, but we are assured that our country is moving forward toward equality, toward true justice, toward compassion. Toward progress. 

There’s a lot of hard work ahead, and our policy makers are far from perfect. We have to continue to lean on them, to voice our opinions, to call out falsehoods and refuse to settle for less than we deserve.  It’s up to us, and the last few years have proven that we’re going to have to fight for every inch of our freedoms, and then fight again to hold on to them.  It’s not going to be easy.  In fact, it will assuredly be hard, and filled with frustration, and anger, and hopelessness, and anxiety, and fear.  It’s going to be a fight, and there will be no room for laziness or apathy…

…but there’s time enough for that. Four more years, at the very least.  So today, I’m celebrating.

This is what my mother would call, “bein’ ornery.”