BY JOELLEN COLLINS
I am working on my laptop just one day after the drama of the election where many of us have spent a long period of effort, attention, or even stress working for the people and issues of this recent political rumble. As a woman who has lived through so many elections, I am finding myself filled with a rare emotion. I simply don’t know how to react to the conclusion of this recent absorbing battle. Whether I am triumphant or depressed by the results, I am trying hard to stay rather quiet and still, examining my reactions by myself, neither shouting aloud nor challenging fellow voters.
Normally, I would talk a lot about recent highly important events, but I just spent time with friends at a dinner where our table consisted of both Democrats and Republicans. No one chose to talk about the latest counts and ensuing results. I believe we were afraid to stimulate emotions of anger or shame, rather than find realistic acceptance of the result. My friends and I felt deeply about the election but now there was little inclination to gloat or moan, as if we might ruin friendships in the process. I imagine that is because the contest was so full of inflated rhetoric that we just need time to be quiet and think about our reactions to a still very divided country’s new leaders and the social labels assigned to us as voters. For example, I never thought about my role as a woman—or even an elderly woman—as a category for labeling my vote for either victor or loser. I do sense we are still fraught with sharp attacks and remarks and with obvious discomfort about expressing our reactions to anyone who didn’t hold our views.
I had decided not to write about the elections for this column, but as I sat down, I looked at the words I am choosing in a rather odd new way. Am I still free to express my disenchantment with any politician now? Do I want to judge or stir discontent among my friends, or should I always choose civil discourse about critical issues and events? Some people are fearful of the deeply emotional rhetoric and divisiveness currently eliciting negative and fearful responses.
So, what to do? Perhaps it is necessary to sit back, read a good book, listen to some music, walk with my doggy, enjoy a new project, talk with my close friends, my daughters and grandchildren, and just wait a bit to filter my reactions and decide what I can contribute. Thus, I might build the courage to plan a way to put my energy toward positive solutions and not fear the repercussions. I can surely relax, be calm, and savor the beauty around me, for a necessary time of peace and quiet. Then perhaps I can do something good for my country, the one I have always loved, and, as a grateful young citizen, found the thrill of saying “I voted.”