For many of us, this political passing of the torch is difficult to watch. Some of us are angry. Some of us are devastated (I have shed tears today). Some of us are in disbelief, in denial that it is happening. Some of us a mixture of it all. And it's all ok.
But here's the thing. It's happening. Whether we like it or not, it's happening.
And you know what? It's happening for a reason.
Why?
Because we as a collective nation are not done healing, we have not yet felt through to completion the pain of past and present wounds.
Yes, Obama was a symbol of hope; a symbol of progression; a symbol that our nation was long past the days of deeply ingrained hatred, racism, white supremacy and sad indifference. But in some ways, his election was also a facade of the true nature of this country; a safe mask we could hide behind to distract ourselves from the sometimes deep and painful healing that still needs to occur; the pain that still needs to be felt and dealt with at our root and our foundation (funny how this could be said for us on individual levels as well).
Many of us are now (and have been) yelling out "not my president!" But he is our president. That doesn't mean you agree with what he will do by any means, but he is still as a fact, regardless of whether it was "fair" or not, the President of the United States. And he is here for a reason. He too is a symbol; a symbol of the purging that still needs to occur; a symbol of the true unfiltered reality of this nation; a symbol of a new kind of unity that needs to take place; and ironically, a symbol of hope for healing on a deeper level.
Until our foundation is completely healed, situations will always present themselves as a pathway to truth and rehabilitation. Let's take the time we need to grieve whatever it is we need to grieve and allow ourselves to feel it through, but let us not be victims to it. Yes, this is all happening for a reason and it is our choice to see it as the end of the times or as an opportunity to grow, unite, empower and heal. I'm gonna go with the latter, but that's just me.
