I voted. Unfortunately what I voted for did not win. Not yet. Reading that first sentence, you all have begun
forming opinions about me. I tell you this: Your opinions would be wrong. Your judgements are typical, really. For the Democrats reading this, your thought process goes something like this: “Yes, she is one of us. I knew she was smart.” Republicans, on the other hand, may be thinking, “How could she vote for that criminal? I knew she wasn’t smart.” Both sides would be wrong. Because while I did vote, I am not such a bloviator that I need to share with you all whom I voted for. I will, however, share what I cast a vote for. My vote is for humanity and my belief is that humanity resides in the middle. You see, I firmly believe that on both sides of our very divided country there are outliers. AND THEY ARE LOUD!!! Right now the Democrat outliers have a divisive plan, one of disruption. They have been seen rioting, displaying violence and destroying property. The Republican outliers are reported to be behaving in the same disgusting way in the “name of victory.”
But between these “outliers” lies the middle, or the rest, of humanity. That’s whom I voted for. Oh, these people have their beliefs and are not shy to share them, but at the end of the day, regardless of the vote they cast, they are humans that want the same thing. And what they want isn’t that new: life, liberty and maybe even the pursuit of happiness (A tax break or two wouldn’t be bad either, but I digress).
My child has a new kid in his school that arrived with a social media stigma that’s not too pretty. Those Facebook posts and Twitter tweets that have negatively characterized this child may or may not be based on fact, yet judgments were already formed about him before he even stepped foot in the hallway. When my child told me about this, I said simply: “There is such amazing kindness in offering someone the benefit of the doubt. Why not wait and see how they behave in their new environment before you pass judgement?” It made me wonder, should our new president not be offered that same kindness?
I pray that this new president of ours will be impactful. personally, I am praying for some affordable health insurance and maybe a business tax break so that I can continue to send out into the stratosphere (or at least local Long Island) the message of consciously awakening—awakening to the dangers of global warming; to random acts of kindness; to conscious eating; to caring for self; and, most importantly, to this month’s focus: coming together as one collective humanity.
To do this, I believe we all must put down our urges to respond to one another (primarily in social media, where it doesn’t take much guts to type a few angry words). What we need to have is hope. Krista Tippett delves deeper into this idea of hope for our future in this issue, indicating her belief that hope is a choice: “A more exacting and courageous choice than cynicism or resignation.” I agree. every ounce of our energy should be going toward sending vibrational energy, positive thoughts and uplifting prayers that our new president does exactly what this country needs.
I hope and pray that the president-elect surprises both sides, and in doing so, brings unity to the people of the United States of America.
Malama Pono!
Kelly Martinsen, Publisher
