For two years, I did what I thought I was supposed to do. I posted “authentically” in various online spaces. I hosted a podcast. I wrote for other blogs. I did all of those things, and it was just … not me. Bits and pieces of it were. But the stuff that drained me was not balancing the stuff that invigorated me.
I am Democrat. You are Republican. Peace depends on me.
I am a woman, you are not; peace depends on me.
I am a Christian, you are not; peace depends on me.
In a recent Blue Bloods episode, Danny reveals a family pact the adults all made the day their children were born: We made the choice to bring you into the world. You didn't make the choice, we did. So a bargain was struck that day that you owe us nothing and we owe you everything.
He's right. We owe our children everything. …
Our Life Story is made up in fractions. However, since we forgot everything we learned in third grade math I think sometimes we get stuck and think that PART of our story is going to end up being our WHOLE story. But that's not the case. Basic math tells us that PARTS and WHOLES are very different, and that one piece does not define the whole pie.
I think it's important to remember that no matter what happens in the coming months, the men and women sitting in the Oval Office, on the most powerful policy-forming benches in the world, or the stages of our nation's amphitheaters, do not control us. We, as people with our own individual minds, individual ideas, individual souls, have great power within. And it is up to US, not our politicians or our celebrities, to walk in such a way that we don't let the darkness win.
What I noticed aside from the intense darkness—which I know is obvious since the lights were out, but it’s something you can’t know until you’ve experienced it—was the quiet. No electricity buzzing, no cars driving by, no sound machine in my toddler’s room, no keys clicking on the keyboard. Just the wind and the rain beating the house, until it subsided and the power was still out.
So. Quiet.
