So, election 2016 is over. Donald Trump has been elected to be the next president of the United States. This has been painful... brutal in fact. Sad, disheartening and depressing for so many of us. I stayed up late last night watching the results praying for a miracle and that the tide would finally turn in Hillary's favor. It did not. Finally I went to bed and got to sleep after 3 a.m.
When I woke up this morning I was so depressed that I pulled the covers over my head and went back to sleep. This is where I tell you that I do not get depressed. I may get sad, bummed out, disheartened, disillusioned, or angry- but depressed? No. Except today. And I could feel in my consciousness the real possibility to spiral down and hang out there. It didn't feel like a good option.
I have given the looming possibility of Donald Trump as our next president a lot of thought over the last few weeks. I can say that my heart has been having palpitations quite a bit lately. I have consumed unusual amounts of Rescue Remedy. I have said on numerous occasions that if he is elected I would have to cash in my savings and leave the country.
Looking back over the last few weeks and months, I was more than a little concerned. I was downright afraid of the possibility of this country being "run" by a loose cannon- a man who is a bigot, a racist and a misogynist with no political experience and a serious and dangerous personality disorder. (I still don't even understand how he got in the running but here we are.)
Over the last few days, as Election Day approached, I began to think more and more about what it would mean and what it would signify if Hillary made it to the White House as the first female president. The way I saw it energetically, is that she represented another paradigm shift. Having an African-American president for the last 8 years was huge, and this was the next step in a real shift in consciousness for the American people and ultimately for humanity. Donald Trump represented the ego digging in and shouting, No! We will not allow you to wake up! You belong to me! Whenever we are going through a major spiritual awakening the ego tends to get very loud and ugly and in our face. Donald Trump wasn't just representing the old paradigm- his consciousness is neanderthal! Club the woman and drag her into the cave by her hair- the Fred Flintstone Method, as one friend said.
It was a no-brainer in the end. Of course there were enough of us who were conscious and not buying into the whole fear-based thought system that he was presenting. Ultimately Hillary was a shoo-in.
Not.
So, the first thing I had to get past was the idea of leaving. That was pretty clear. Fuck you Donald Trump. You may be a bully but you are not going to push me away. I'm not going anywhere. But I'm sad, I'm heartbroken, I'm depressed, I don't even want to get out of bed.
Okay, meditate. Change your mind. As A Course in Miracles says, "I am not a victim of the world I see." And I saw that Donald Trump is now the catalyst for us to be the change we want to see. All those tools that we, who have chosen awakening as our path and truth as our goal, have accumulated over the years, now we have to put our tools to work. I saw that I have become complacent. And to some degree Donald trump reflects that complacency rather than the ideals of the best and highest good (unless of course you like him). So I have to own up to my complacency- and unless I want to be swallowed up by my own sadness I now have to put all these tools that I have gathered throughout my lifetime to work.
As I was processing all this the phrase "higher ground" kept coming into my mind- that I had to lift myself up- which brought to mind the great Stevie Wonder song. I am adopting this as my anthem for as long as I need it- until whatever the next one is- or until I reach the higher ground!