It is Friday? Peace, Love and what to do?
I started yesterday, thinking about tomorrow! I kept wondering what I would do, how I would
feel, how I would behave waking up realizing our government and opportunity has
changed.
Mother Nature decided to help me. She reminded me that as strong as we humans
are she still owns our environment, our skies, and our earth. Her pallet of colors in the morning sky were
unusually stunning. There was a layer of
clouds between the sun rising and her blue sky creating a new pallet of color I
had not seen.
Here is a link to some of those pictures, I even took some
from the car on my way back as I was in awe which as someone lucky enough to do
this most mornings is hard to do.
I sit here with some angst, stress and a down heart and some
odd optimism as I look to Friday so here is a little more on how I feel and my own observations.
First, strange optimism, I watched some of the confirmation
hearings and it appears Donald's cabinet doesn't have any concern about publicly
disagreeing with him and they seemed reasonable and understood the power of the
house and senate. So, if they continue
to have the control and independence then maybe all we get from the Oval office
is a bu
Second, concern, I truly do not like the Secretary of
Education. Her approach and knowledge of
public education seem minimal as I presume the new president's is as well. But, I remind myself that the states and
local governments have a more direct impact on day to day public
education. I do think, as you listened to
the other hearings, that retraining our workforce is a key and kids need to be
well educated with freedom to be kids.
Third, grateful, as much as I don't like it we are seeing a
peaceful transfer of power. The freedom
of speech in protests and open concerns around the country I hope will be
peaceful and productive as well. As much
as I don't like the winner, and was passionate and still am for Hillary, her
being at the inauguration should remind us that contrary to other parts of the
world this is peaceful.
Fourth, empathy, I am trying to turn my fear around and not
just be mad at those that voted for Donald. I can see if I were in the mid-west
and the loss of manufacturing jobs the promise of bringing those jobs back may
just be the ticket to get my vote.
although, listening to the DOW CEO talk about the need for job retraining
to make profitable products in the US he sounded closer to the policy proposals
of Hillary than Donald. Maybe he can
influence the secretary of education as he is a Donald advocate heading up his
manufacturing council.
Fifth, inevitability, although I won't stay quiet, there is
really nothing I can do that would prevent Friday from happening. Imagine the end of the Day the Obama's will
be in Palm Springs and for the first time in at least 14 years the day to day
operation of the federal government won't be a priority on his or their
mind. I wish them all a much-needed
vacation and they should look up Patti and Elizabeth while they are there.
Sixth, optimism, maybe the economy will continue and some of
the effort around infrastructure and
Donald's recent comments about universal
health insurance coverage may be a good change for the country. Will be interesting to see how friendly the
Republicans on the hill are to those ideas.
Seventh, fear, of the supreme court. We know the list of potential nominees but
maybe he will go off that list and as in the past the conservative nominee will
turn out to be a moderate or even a liberal on the court.
Eight, fear, for women's rights, our reputation around the
globe, peace in Europe, an emboldened Russia, and a continued shift away from
Globalism around the world which brought prosperity, the hope for poorer
countries to grow, and I do think in the long run a more stable and peaceful
world. If we only worry about our own borders,
then what does that say about human's in general? We can keep a space station operating across
many countries, we can think about going to Mars across the globe, but when it
comes for a peaceful earth, feeding the poor, and assuring opportunity for
prosperity around the world we can't be bothered?
The sad part, is I continue to agree with Hillary in her
first book, with the empowerment of women globally we will see more peace and
stability. I just don't see women's rights at home or abroad being a priority
of this president and his mostly white and male cabinet.
Nine, calm, that much of what we deal with day to day is
really local. Does the trash get picked
up on schedule? Do the lights come on
and off at the right switch? Does the
snow get cleared? Are decorations up for the right holiday? Are kids getting a good education? Is there
law and order that makes living here, wherever your here is, a pleasant and
peaceful life.
Ten, optimism, I won't let him take a minute of my life in
fear. I won't allow him to make walking
the dog, holding Frank's hand, or anything in my day to day life unpleasant due
to something he says, tweets, or is repeated in an interview. I have a good business opportunities, I have
a great partner, and did I mention lately a dog with a double dose of cute! So, Donald this country has given me the
right to pursue happiness and you can't stop that!
So here is my plan starting Friday:
I will continue to walk on the beach and wonder at the
beauty of mother nature and remember that he doesn't have control over her.
(although he thinks he does apparently!)
- I won't be quiet. When I hear something, outrageous I will speak. When I wake up in fear of some new policy, I will speak type and even scream if helpful.
- I won't just agree that the DNC knows what they are doing. The RNC understands that start with and end locally. They build their policies, their election plans year to year with that in mind so people know what they are voting for as a republican. This served Donald well, and apparently, nobody knew what the Democrats stood for. Hillary was one person and one campaign, but it is obvious listening to continued rhetoric that the country does not know collectively what the Democrats stood for beyond equality as important as it may be. So, each time I get an email survey (which is really a fundraiser) I will reply with wanting to understand what their local plan is, and I will start to invest more energy in my local politics and community.
- On Friday, I will work hard. I will walk, I will pet the dog, and I will not watch the inauguration. I can't watch and enjoy it, and I go back to the above I just can't pay him attention and be happy about life. I do hope his cabinet, mostly, is as thoughtful in reality as in the confirmation hearings.
- I will remind myself there are three branches of government, and hopefully they will all do their job and continue the checks and balances for each other. If the DNC gets their act together maybe the senate can be taken back in the mid-term election which will be able to halt the worst of the nominees and policies.
- Continue to be grateful that I do live in a country which permits me to speak, type and tweet freely. I will also continue to remind myself each day that I am a lucky man overall and not let errant noise get in the way of smiling and reminding myself of that every day.
When all of this gets me down, mother nature and the lovely
sunrises and sunsets of south Florida will help calm my nerves and let me get
on with my own life.
I wish all of you peace, love and health whomever you voted for L'chaim!
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