On election night, my first emotion was sadness. Then I felt some shame and some guilt. Then a bit of anger. Still a bit of anger.
Yet I'm wired to see the opportunity. If our country is this closely divided, then there are three possibilities that stick out.
1) We continue down the same road of stand-off division that we're living in now. Tit-for-tat.
2) We erupt into larger chaos and division. Skirmishes, if not a form of civil war. (Hopefully more civil than war.)
3) We realize that the only way forward is together. That there are too many on each side for one side to win. A decisive victory on either side could have created another swing of the pendulum. Another new cycle of left or right.
So the opportunity for change – the opportunity for a different path that I see is #3. That's where I'm choosing to put my energy.
I saw it last summer on the project that I've been sharing about the Duality Derby – the demolition derby with a soul. I witnessed Urban and Rural come together. Red and Blue. Artistic and Practical. Hunters and Hippies. To create something powerful and do so with dignity and mutual respect, regardless of views.
I'm also a personification, in many ways. Military brat. Construction worker. Computer engineer. Theatre artist. Entrepreneur. A wordsmith who happens to enjoy owning a bit of land and chopping up his own wood. An avid shooter who believes that people have the right to live their own lives, in their own ways, regardless of religion, sexuality, or creed. I've had millions of dollars and I also own a double-wide trailer home. I have helped warriors find peace.
I don't want the left trampled by the right or the right trampled by the left. I want us to see and respect each other and to move forward with compassion and dignity to be a lighthouse in this world of chaos and storm. A beacon that others would want to join.
I do not stand for a party, I stand for People. I stand with People.
Big Love, my fellow humans. Be well and treat each other well.
P.S. In the time since I first posted this, I've had several deep conversations with good people on both sides. There is a lot of pain, hurt, and fear all around. Each believes this is a fight for survival and believes the other side is a mortal enemy. I can feel and understand many of their points. To those who read this, I suggest that cooperation is more powerful than conflict. The rise of humanity is not a story of individuals in conflict, but of groups working together. The next era will require even more cooperation if we and this world are to thrive.