One thing I know for sure

I am not in charge. Or, put another way, there is a higher power and I'm not it. Something organizes and runs the universe, right down to every electron, positron and quantum particle. (At least this is my belief.) Right now, I can't see how this election result could possibly be positive for our country, our world, or my little corner of it. That's just disappointment talking, and the hurt that comes from losing, from giving up my vision of how things would go. However, I know from hard-won experience that the worst things that have happened in my life -- like having an eating disorder, having 4 car accidents in one year, losing my band in the middle of making a CD, etc. -- have all turned out to be some of the best things that ever happened to me. It still hurt, just as the grief from losing two family members and two friends this year still hurts. But within in the wreckage that I thought was everything, I unearthed some treasures. More than anything, I want to ward against villainizing "the other side." There are no sides, really. We're all just doing the best we can with what we've got. I think those who voted for President Bush love their country as much as I do, and voted their conscience. Just like me. It's dangerous to see the world in black and white: Dem vs. Rep., America vs. the terrorists, religious fundamentalism vs. non-religious. I want to try to reach out and understand differing viewpoints. I want to stay informed, instead of puttiing my head back in the sand. I want to trust that the pendulum always swings back and forth, back and forth. There are always larger forces at work than I can see--equal and opposing forces that balance that pendulum, sometimes quickly and sometimes slowly. Running the universe is not my business. I can't even control an hour. Actually, gardening is a good lesson in this kind of powerlessness. I can plan and plant and fuss and worry, but things either grow and prosper or they don't. Things look the way I'd hoped, or they don't. I just show up and do the best I can.