So helpful, John. To complement this, I hope you don't mind my sharing part of what Jess Craven wrote yesterday (Chop Wood, Carry Water):
[My husband and I] had begun to touch on some of the many things our country was about to lose—freedoms, climate progress, tolerance, justice, a functioning public educational system—and somehow, perhaps in an act of emotional self preservation, we’d pivoted to what we would not, however, lose, no matter what.
The number one answer? Love. Partnered with that? Joy.
Fascists can take many things. They can break many more. But there are things they can neither steal nor destroy—unless we let them. And these are, without question, the most important things we possess.
Fascists cannot take our place in our families.
They cannot take our friendships.
They cannot take our empathy.
They can not take our ability to experience beauty, nor to create it. They can’t take away our sense of wonder. They can’t rob us of compassion. They can’t take laughter—in fact they can’t get anywhere close to it; humor, to fascists, is like garlic to vampires.
Fascists can’t take away community, although they surely will try. They can’t take our pleasure in gardening, or drinking good tea, or listening to music, or making great art, or visiting the dog park, or walking with a friend.
They can’t take most of what makes life worth living. They can’t, in fact, get anywhere near the “human essentials,” for the place those essentials come from is a place where fascism starves.
So while we still grieve, and are only just coming out of shock, and are being forced back into a resistance stance we thought we’d long moved beyond, we must not forgo opportunities to find joy. To achieve connection. To feel love. We must, instead, chase them, nurture them, grow them, increase them.
For it is in the spaces fascists can’t enter that we can begin to build the structure of something entirely new, something stronger and more fascist-proof.
Something made of love.
Will we succeed?
Only if we try. Nothing is guaranteed, but it is in the trying that we’ll keep our humanity, grow our hope, and find new strengths.
I'm in the exact place. Grief isn't linear. My emotions are rollicking every day. But at the end, I come back to how proud I am of myself, of you, of so many others on this side of history. The right thing doesn't always win, but that doesn't mean it wasn't right. To use Prince, in our house we did what was right, what historians will deem to have been right, and we have a right to define our own value.
Thank You. The strongest statement was the little story of Prince. "It's #1 in our house".
I was talking to my congressman and asked him, if there are 435 Congresspersons why do people only hear about a handful of them.? He replied ....the media wants it that way.
What I needed to be reminded of today was that “Hate has NOT won”. At least not in OUR hearts. And we need to keep knowing each other and helping each other to walk forward in that hard space. I do believe in doing kindness, but I no longer want to confuse that with “Being Nice”, “Going along to get along”. I want the type of Kindness that calls out the hateful complicity of the Americans who were willing to compromise their Republic for their own comfort and hatreds. I want to push-back when they assert themselves in conversation. I want to be a persistent check on their hate-mongering and apathy. I want to kindly and appropriately shine a light on their lack of character, lack of moral-center and lack of compassion for others , so they never for one minute are led to believe their assumption of entitled privilege is anything but a symptom of their dis-ease as a human being.
I am at a cross road of deep pain:disappointment, and not sure how to navigate. This gives me a road map that was most likely in me all along. I wanted to hold up a sword to those that made this happen, instead I will put down my sword and focus on the people who I care about and who care about me as well as share my values and compassion for all people. Thank you for your inspiring words.
I believe it's always better to light a candle than curse the darkness, but....... It is perfectly okay to do both. Political disasters are much like climate disasters....e.g., a major flood that destroys all in its wake. It is what it is, and we do what we can to help build back better. Do we curse the damage 💔 first? Absolutely💯 Plenty of times! Sometimes cursing our darkness supplies the energy we need for finding our candles we forgot we even owned.
Thank you John. I have been feeling sad about some of my fellow Americans lately. I pray every day that our country survives and the good people in the government prevail. I am not powerless as long as I keep the faith.
I love the Prince analogy, made my day! I’ve accepted the results with a heavy heart and have chosen to turn the page, a path of least resistance for four years, a sabbatical from politics if you will. Not that I don’t care, but because I deserve better than worrying about the unknown damage that may or may not come in the next four years, I have no control over that til the next election. I refuse to submit any more effort or time watching or listening to the negativity from news outlets and the cesspool of social media trolls. The Beautiful Mess is an exception of course, because it’s about what’s right and always comes from a place of hope and love. So perhaps I’m being selfish for tuning out for a while, but I can control what goes into my body on a daily basis, spiritually and mentally. I’ve come to realize life goes on and I just need to purge the negativity and bullshit from my life at this time. It’s been over a week now and my mind and body have already thanked me. ❤️
Looking at the numbers, ‘seems ‘hatred won’ - but yes, hope remains…
In my mind i keep seeing videos of WW2 Allied forces taking citizens for tours through the newly liberated camps…’but we didn’t know’…’guess we haven’t hit rock bottom yet
John, thank you! After the 2020 presidential election, I bought and proudly wore a t-shirt that said, "I'm one of the 81 million." That number, of course, was the popular vote count of President Biden. As I read your article, it occurred to me that I need to have a new t-shirt printed that says, "I'm one of the 73 million." That number is much smaller than Biden's in 2020 and also smaller than the other guy's in 2024. Nonetheless, I damn proud to be among that 73 million! While we may be on the losing side of the vote tally, we didn't endorse the lie, and we can continue to live the truth. As always, your words of encouragement are very much appreciated!
Love truly is stronger than hatred. Hating is easy, but love needs nuturing.The New Testament or the Gospels does give an alternative path. Love your God and your
Actually it has taken until today, but I am seeing a strategy develop. Trump’s cabinet picks are so horrible, it is even shocking Republicans. Trump failed to get Rick Scott to head the Senate. There are at signs Trump is tiring of Elon. You can’t have two narcissists in the same room for long. I think as Trump embarks on his most extreme measures people will realize that he did indeed support Project 2025. Tariffs will quickly bring buyers remorse. So become active in the resistance right now! And focus and fight for course correction in the midterms.
So helpful, John. To complement this, I hope you don't mind my sharing part of what Jess Craven wrote yesterday (Chop Wood, Carry Water):
[My husband and I] had begun to touch on some of the many things our country was about to lose—freedoms, climate progress, tolerance, justice, a functioning public educational system—and somehow, perhaps in an act of emotional self preservation, we’d pivoted to what we would not, however, lose, no matter what.
The number one answer? Love. Partnered with that? Joy.
Fascists can take many things. They can break many more. But there are things they can neither steal nor destroy—unless we let them. And these are, without question, the most important things we possess.
Fascists cannot take our place in our families.
They cannot take our friendships.
They cannot take our empathy.
They can not take our ability to experience beauty, nor to create it. They can’t take away our sense of wonder. They can’t rob us of compassion. They can’t take laughter—in fact they can’t get anywhere close to it; humor, to fascists, is like garlic to vampires.
Fascists can’t take away community, although they surely will try. They can’t take our pleasure in gardening, or drinking good tea, or listening to music, or making great art, or visiting the dog park, or walking with a friend.
They can’t take most of what makes life worth living. They can’t, in fact, get anywhere near the “human essentials,” for the place those essentials come from is a place where fascism starves.
So while we still grieve, and are only just coming out of shock, and are being forced back into a resistance stance we thought we’d long moved beyond, we must not forgo opportunities to find joy. To achieve connection. To feel love. We must, instead, chase them, nurture them, grow them, increase them.
For it is in the spaces fascists can’t enter that we can begin to build the structure of something entirely new, something stronger and more fascist-proof.
Something made of love.
Will we succeed?
Only if we try. Nothing is guaranteed, but it is in the trying that we’ll keep our humanity, grow our hope, and find new strengths.
Eric. Thank you for this. It is a wonderful treatise on how we should feel right now. I have not abandoned Hope.
I'm in the exact place. Grief isn't linear. My emotions are rollicking every day. But at the end, I come back to how proud I am of myself, of you, of so many others on this side of history. The right thing doesn't always win, but that doesn't mean it wasn't right. To use Prince, in our house we did what was right, what historians will deem to have been right, and we have a right to define our own value.
Thank You. The strongest statement was the little story of Prince. "It's #1 in our house".
I was talking to my congressman and asked him, if there are 435 Congresspersons why do people only hear about a handful of them.? He replied ....the media wants it that way.
What I needed to be reminded of today was that “Hate has NOT won”. At least not in OUR hearts. And we need to keep knowing each other and helping each other to walk forward in that hard space. I do believe in doing kindness, but I no longer want to confuse that with “Being Nice”, “Going along to get along”. I want the type of Kindness that calls out the hateful complicity of the Americans who were willing to compromise their Republic for their own comfort and hatreds. I want to push-back when they assert themselves in conversation. I want to be a persistent check on their hate-mongering and apathy. I want to kindly and appropriately shine a light on their lack of character, lack of moral-center and lack of compassion for others , so they never for one minute are led to believe their assumption of entitled privilege is anything but a symptom of their dis-ease as a human being.
I am at a cross road of deep pain:disappointment, and not sure how to navigate. This gives me a road map that was most likely in me all along. I wanted to hold up a sword to those that made this happen, instead I will put down my sword and focus on the people who I care about and who care about me as well as share my values and compassion for all people. Thank you for your inspiring words.
I believe it's always better to light a candle than curse the darkness, but....... It is perfectly okay to do both. Political disasters are much like climate disasters....e.g., a major flood that destroys all in its wake. It is what it is, and we do what we can to help build back better. Do we curse the damage 💔 first? Absolutely💯 Plenty of times! Sometimes cursing our darkness supplies the energy we need for finding our candles we forgot we even owned.
Thank you John. I have been feeling sad about some of my fellow Americans lately. I pray every day that our country survives and the good people in the government prevail. I am not powerless as long as I keep the faith.
Thanks for this reminder, John. Hate has certainly delivered a fierce blow, but the fight ain't over.
Thank you. I needed to hear this today.
I love the Prince analogy, made my day! I’ve accepted the results with a heavy heart and have chosen to turn the page, a path of least resistance for four years, a sabbatical from politics if you will. Not that I don’t care, but because I deserve better than worrying about the unknown damage that may or may not come in the next four years, I have no control over that til the next election. I refuse to submit any more effort or time watching or listening to the negativity from news outlets and the cesspool of social media trolls. The Beautiful Mess is an exception of course, because it’s about what’s right and always comes from a place of hope and love. So perhaps I’m being selfish for tuning out for a while, but I can control what goes into my body on a daily basis, spiritually and mentally. I’ve come to realize life goes on and I just need to purge the negativity and bullshit from my life at this time. It’s been over a week now and my mind and body have already thanked me. ❤️
Thank you so much. You’ve expressed my feelings so well. I needed to know I’m not alone in feeling this way.
Thank you, John, for putting into words what so many of us are struggling to remember each day.
Looking at the numbers, ‘seems ‘hatred won’ - but yes, hope remains…
In my mind i keep seeing videos of WW2 Allied forces taking citizens for tours through the newly liberated camps…’but we didn’t know’…’guess we haven’t hit rock bottom yet
May Heaven help us
John, thank you! After the 2020 presidential election, I bought and proudly wore a t-shirt that said, "I'm one of the 81 million." That number, of course, was the popular vote count of President Biden. As I read your article, it occurred to me that I need to have a new t-shirt printed that says, "I'm one of the 73 million." That number is much smaller than Biden's in 2020 and also smaller than the other guy's in 2024. Nonetheless, I damn proud to be among that 73 million! While we may be on the losing side of the vote tally, we didn't endorse the lie, and we can continue to live the truth. As always, your words of encouragement are very much appreciated!
I really needed that. Thanks
Love truly is stronger than hatred. Hating is easy, but love needs nuturing.The New Testament or the Gospels does give an alternative path. Love your God and your
neighbors as yourself.
On a person note, I got Hepatitis and my
liver died. I am so lucky to have new liver.
6 years out.Wow. I named my liver Shay
' gift from God' and he is my closest neighbor; it is easy to love him as myself♥️
Actually it has taken until today, but I am seeing a strategy develop. Trump’s cabinet picks are so horrible, it is even shocking Republicans. Trump failed to get Rick Scott to head the Senate. There are at signs Trump is tiring of Elon. You can’t have two narcissists in the same room for long. I think as Trump embarks on his most extreme measures people will realize that he did indeed support Project 2025. Tariffs will quickly bring buyers remorse. So become active in the resistance right now! And focus and fight for course correction in the midterms.
I think he's floating these so when they are rejected, he can offer his real picks. They won't look quite as bad, even though they're likely worse.
The final line got cut off “And focus and concentrate on a major course correction in the mid term election.