I can’t believe it.

Are we really going to re-elect the most incredibly incompetent, divisive, destructive, and dangerous leader our country has ever seen? I’m struggling to hold on to my emotions right now. The race hasn’t been called, but… it’s not looking good.

Seriously people. Deep breaths. Activate that parasympathetic nervous system and ground your energy by breathing deeply into your belly. Expand in all four directions. Hold the breath for a few counts, then slowly exhale all the way, pulling your belly button in towards your spine. Repeat at your own pace.

Drop your awareness into the bowl of your pelvis. Imagine you’re growing roots out of your feet, anchoring yourself to the earth.

These are skills we’re all going to need over the next few weeks, and beyond.

Breathing is one of the only things any of us can control right now. If we are lucky enough to still have healthy lungs.

Is this what they call, an opportunity for growth?

Maybe this fever needs to spike still higher before it breaks? Unbelievably.

If 45 is reelected, we are going to be in for a very long next four years. I know the pendulum of evolution swings back and forth, but holy crap. This time it just seems like there is so much more at stake than money or power.

It feels like the earth is falling out from beneath my feet. How about you? Do you remember that video of people just screaming that came out after the 2016 elections? This feels even worse. Like deadened silence.

I care about our planet

I care about equality. I care about inter-personal decency. I care about resolving the dumpster-fires of horror that are happening all around the world right now. I care about the kind of world my kids are going to grow up in. And I’m pretty disheartened right now. I know so many of you are too.

Deep breaths will keep us connected to the ground. Deep breaths will keep us connected to our hearts.

I just became a kind of accidental pen-pal with a surgeon working in Yemen with Médicins Sans Frontierès, over on LinkedIn of all places. I don’t usually chat with strange men on social media platforms for fun, but this guy was speaking from the heart. He told me that 24 million people, 80% of the population of Yemen, are in need of humanitarian aid.

The civil war has been going on over there for 5 years. The horrors are unspeakable.

This guy, he’s from Canada, and he misses his son. He’s facing death both personally and for the people he’s trying to help on a daily basis. They have less than half their health facilities operational right now, and far less PPE than our doctors ever had. And COVID is starting to rip through the population there.

And now we might have to deal with this egotistical traumatized man-child who seems to be leading the free world even deeper into the swamp?

Again?

Seriously? Where is the intervention?

Will our media channels continue to stay tuned to channel Trump? Will they continue to ignore the people of Yemen, the people of Syria, and, oh yeah, the climate?

Maybe this is for the good in the end?

I’m trying desperately to find hope in this chaos. I know we need it.

Maybe we just need to accept the fact that our systems are broken beyond repair, and get to work with the tasks needed to fix them. Maybe that’s the point of all of this.

Maybe the soul contracts of the people both leading and voting for the fallout are actually doing us a favor. Maybe had we gotten the better option, the will to make the big changes would have faltered.

Taking another deep breath as I type this. You take one too.

Maybe this is what we needed to keep our resolve for change strong. To keep the recruitment for Team Love strong. Maybe this is just the contrast of what we don’t want, here to show us more clearly what we do.

Maybe it’s time to dive off the deep end and admit that NOTHING like “normal” is going to be safe for a long time. Perhaps it’s better to just dive into the freezing cold darkness, and accept the shock of it all. From there at least, we can start swimming.

From the immortal words of Monty Python,

We’re not dead yet.

But if ever there were a time for deep breaths, love, and endless patience, the time is now. We have SO much work to be done.

I don’t know what will happen. I’m going to bed with some deep breaths to calm my nervous heart. But no matter what the news says when I wake up tomorrow morning, we’re in for quite a journey.

And maybe that is exactly what we needed to do to get going.

May we find bright hope within. Because even though it’s really hard to see it out there, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. The light shines brightest on the darkest night. And it’s getting mighty dark lately.

Onelove y’all. Keep shining.