Our mission is to plant ourselves at the gates of hope – not the prudent gates of Optimism, which are somewhat narrower; nor the stalwart, boring gates of Common Sense; nor the strident gates of Self-Righteousness, which creak on shrill on angry hinges (people cannot hear us there; they cannot pass through); nor the cheerful,… Read more
Now is the Time Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase “each other” doesn’t make any sense. –Jelaluddin Rumi (13th century) Now, more than ever …. Read more
by Susan Prince Many have spoken eloquently about their very visceral emotional experiences the day that Trump was elected. Like everyone else, I was completely surprised and utterly shocked by the stunning outcome. But something else very odd was happening for me. As I watched my friends respond with extreme fear and deep grief, I… Read more
by Ron Pevny As I write this on the morning after the U.S. election, I am dealing with a nearly overwhelming mix of feelings and thoughts, a caldron of inner chaos as I try to understand the dynamics driving our country at this critical time in history. And I find it important to reflect on… Read more
by Libby and Len Traubman Inside our California home we feel deeply, and coast-to-coast across America, we read thousands of post-election words about fears and potential dangers. Yet, listening carefully across the black-dark chasms of human separation, we citizens see light on some unifying agreement: Many old institutions favor a few and exclude many, sometimes… Read more
by Meg Newhouse I am writing these reflections almost four weeks after the election, with its shocking, depressing outcome. I’ve had the advantage of traveling in Myanmar (Burma) and living without US media for the past two weeks. It’s like burying my head in the sand, but it has somewhat restored my equilibrium and it… Read more
by Roberta Ryan Lee Gibson, Ph.D., one of my first therapists, believed that handling an intense life situation begins when you find the blessing within the difficulty. He guided me to do this by describing whatever was upsetting me multiple times. As my story changed each time, so did my perception. With that shift came… Read more
by Amy Vossbrinck Early this year, it became abundantly clear to me that I could not sit out the 2016 election cycle. I arranged to use my vacation days at work, contacted a friend in Ohio (a swing state) to offer my volunteer help, paid for my flights and a car rental, and sent in… Read more
Trump and Trauma by Peter Pitzele For the past few days the phrases “wretched refuse” and “yearning to breathe free” have been circling in my brain. The words come from Emma Lazarus’ sonnet “The New Colossus,” which celebrate the meaning of the Statue of Liberty. The entire set of lines in which my nagging phrases… Read more
By John Sorensen I went to bed late Tuesday night, Nov. 8, with a sinking feeling, hearing that Pennsylvania had just been called for Trump. Next morning, with confirmation of the Trump victory, I was stunned and deeply horrified—all the good work we had done in the last several years getting our country on the… Read more
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