This Season of Life

Winter isn’t officially here just yet but I will admit I’ve experienced more than a taste of seasonal melancholy. It seems the shorter days and darker nights have become a living metaphor of the bleakness we’ve faced as a nation lately. This season has been difficult for me but this season of life is one that at times feels impossible to endure.

The result of the recent election is for many-including myself-a tragedy. There are numerous things occurring in my life that encourage a bleak outlook on life but the added fact that come January the U.S. will look very different frankly does not help matters. My race-based trauma has been triggered more times than I can count and I find myself wondering how as American people we will find our way back.

How do find our way back from electing a man who built his campaign on the slander of minorities, immigrants and LGBTQ people? How do we find our way back from the continual unjust killings of black and brown people, the mistreatment of the incarcerated mentally ill, and the disregard of the culture and land rights of native peoples?

How do I find hope for the future? How do I find peace? I’ve asked myself those questions many times this year. Practicing self-care and the care of others is one way to peace but I fear how extensive the structural damage is for our society. I suppose the next step is to rebuild and to reunite but what will that look like?

C