This post is for all of you who woke up this morning, the day after the election, and discovered that your nightmare wasn’t just a nightmare. It came true.

“It’s really a wonder that I haven’t dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.”
― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

I am heartbroken by the results of this election and frightened for what it may mean for the future of my kids and grandchildren and for our world.

Through my tears I remind myself that

BEAUTY exists

“I’ve found that there is always some beauty left — in nature, sunshine, freedom, in yourself; these can all help you.”
― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

LOVE WINS

This is not the time to despair. It is not the time to attack. It is not the time to be cynical.

You must be the change you wish to see in the world!

Let yourself feel all your feelings of sadness, fear, and disbelief. But don’t become filled with hate and anger towards “them”.

It’s a time to live your values.

The clouds in the sky threaten to shut out the light. But instead of creating darkness they create beautiful sunsets with colors painted across the sky. Even in the darkness, the beauty remains.

Scatter joy with abandon

Strike up a conversation with someone who sees things differently than you do.

Listen with compassion. Seek to understand.

Spread love and light and truth

Practice compassion—for yourself and others.

Breathe in pain. Breath out peace. Breath in suffering. Breath out peace.

Work to create the world you want to live in. Get involved in local politics. Stand for what you believe.

Remember that troubled times are our allies in awakening. They compel us to access the deep, untroubled beings that we really are. The hero engages with destiny only on the road of trials. Each of us is the central character of our own story, and right now, it’s true, the road ahead looks long. Let’s use it as a chance to grow wiser and stronger, to become heroes we’re all meant to become. — Martha Beck

May you walk in beauty (and peace and love).

Photos in today’s post are from a recent sunset viewed from my deck and from a hike at Carver Park.