election reflection: dinosaur opposites

this year's election felt like a big deal to me. 

i could hardly wait to get to the polls on election day.

i still remember it was an election year when i turned 18...and i didn't vote.

and 4 years later...i still didn't vote.

at the time, it didn't seem like a big deal.

at the time, it didn't seem like my vote mattered.

at the time, i wasn't really paying attention.

but somewhere in the process of growing into myself, i started to pay attention and i started to care.

i started paying more taxes

i started working more closely with folks who were "other"

i started to understand public/social policy outside the lens of religious and peer bias.

i started feeling more uncomfortable with my ignorance

{it was not bliss after all}

however, paying attention and caring brought with it another kind of discomfort:

{not all people in my spheres are like-minded}

 in fact, a quick review of my facebook feed the day before the election illustrated that truth in spades.

 a truth i knew from years of discourse with family and friends but 

this year's election revealed our unlike-mindedness did not represent a spectrum of ideas 

{as i once believed}

rather, at a profoundly fundamental level, 

the people in my spheres are diametrically opposed in political & social opinion.

on one hand i have deep appreciation for this reality

on the other hand, these fundamentals were precisely why i felt this year's election was a big deal.

i went into election day feeling like it was a battle, one with very high stakes.

this year felt like a battle of the dinosaur opposites in my son's book-of-the-week

{big-small, weak-strong, good-bad}

and so, though i feel disappointment over

the country being taken into "battle;"

some of the decisions made by the current administration over the last 4 years;

the results of some proposals & races; and

the residual feelings of resignation, disgust, and frustration left in the election's wake,

i feel encouraged.

by what the results of the election represent: {a sense of progress}

a shift toward the margins, rather than further barricading the marginalized.

i feel relief.

that "some monster of American history...went into battle last night, and is presently limping away mortally wounded." 

{thank you Ta-Nehisi Coates}

i feel hopeful.

that our country will be able to mature past our tendency to maintain concrete dualities

and engage in conversations & policy development that honor the value of the both-and.

and i remain ever-hopeful that the timeless message of a children's book rings true:

whether big or small, there's a welcome for all!