The Morning After
NOTE: I wrote this in 2016 the morning after the election. It still works as a great how-to guide to change your life and focus on love.
For a moment this morning, my foggy mind was in ignorant bliss, forgetting the unbelievable outcome of last night’s election. Then it hit me. Like waking up after a horrible break up or the recent loss of a loved one, it hit me right in the gut. As I held my precious daughter, I realized that our country will now be led by hate and I was overcome with sadness, with grief, with fear. Then I remembered a deep truth – love always wins and everything is always happening FOR us.
Regardless of which side you were on in this election, I’m sure we can all agree that it was the most angry, emotional, hateful and toxic election of our lives. Perhaps I am naïve or just too optimistic, but I NEVER believed that in this day and age we could be so entrenched in hate and fear to elect a president who stands for such things. I had no idea there was still this much hate in the world, especially in America. But now we see where our “work” is.
As my friend and mentor Heather Kristian Strang says, “Darkness stems from repression. Repression creates an inability for the light to get in. Darkness is simply the absence of light.” (The JOGs)
Now we know where to shine our light. And now we know we need to bring it with FULL FORCE. Not to fight against it, but to illuminate it. With love. To fight FOR love and to shine so brightly that we pull others out of the dark.
This has shown us that it’s not enough to not be a racist or a bigot, but you must also stand up for equality, stand up for peace, stand up for love. It’s not enough to not outwardly hate, you must also purposely and wholeheartedly love. And that is what I will do.
I will no longer love quietly and when it won't offend. I will love EVERYONE and I will stand for love in EVERY situation.
I will not only love when it's convenient, when I'm feeling loving or when it's easy. I will love the racists screaming obscenities at my mixed race family. I will love the parents who abuse their children that I now care for. I will love the bigots who claim my loved ones are going to burn in hell because of who they choose to love.
I will love them all and shine my light on their darkness because that is the ONLY way to remove hate. You cannot fight against it, you cannot hate in return, for that will only stoke the fire of hate. You must fight FOR love – in every situation, all the time.
Big and small, the hate has to stop here, it has to stop with each one of us. This isn’t “their” problem, or “their” fault. There is no “they”. We are one, and what you see in another is also in you.
So stop now. Stop the hate. The hateful posts and conversations, the rants about your ex, your neighbor, your co-workers. Instead of cussing out the guy who just cut you off and fuming about traffic, spread love.
Quit the job you hate that makes you come home angry or unhappy every day, leave the abusive (or just non-loving) relationship. Remove everything from your life that does not completely light you up inside, and bless it with love as it goes.
Make your life a testament to love, to peace, to joy. Dance, laugh, sing, paint, make love, snuggle your children and your pets, spend time in nature, and make endless lists about what you are grateful for.
This is how we recover, this is how we move forward – we feel the pain, we cry, we pray and then we let it go and come together as one. We focus ONLY on love and we shout it from the rooftops.
And how do you explain this to your children? You tell them the truth – that the world needs to be healed and now we can bring the darkness to light. You teach them to love, and show them how to love in the face of hatred. Teach them that no one was born hating another – it is learned, and what is learned can always be unlearned. Teach them to love themselves unconditionally, despite what others may say about them or do to them. Teach them that they make a difference and they can change the world by simply being kind and following their hearts. Teach them to choose love.
