Hitting the Refresh Button: Reflection and Rejuvenation After the Election

Coincidence has it that I was going to be out of commission for the next few weeks.  Travel plus the Thanksgiving holidays was always going to take me away.  But the frenetic discussions that have spun out in the days since the election have made me realize that it is ideally positioned.  It’s perfect timing for a hitting of the refresh button.

I expected we would be reveling in an election win, in a job well done, in dreams of how brightly and beautifully we could build the next four years of our future.  Instead, we find ourselves worrying about protecting the progress we have already achieved, and protecting the future we have already built.

Getting beyond mourning and fear and frustration and recriminations takes work.  It takes space and reflection.  It also takes rejuvenation of the spirit.  It is difficult to imagine something as beautiful and hopeful as we all deserve while mired in doubt and despair.

So I’m going to embrace this time away.  Instead of providing filler, we’ll be quiet here at Shattering the Ceiling.  We’ll be thinking and dreaming and finding our way back to a hopeful, actionable vision.

And while there is no single right way to handle this time, based on what I’ve been hearing from many of you, it may be a good idea for others to try and take some time to find a way to go about hitting the refresh button in their own lives.  That may be taking a break from social media, or simply taking a break with friends and family.  One friend shared that she’s going to be spending extra time volunteering, so she can reconnect with her community and with what is good in us all.  Whatever it is, I urge you all to find a way to refresh yourselves.

Because, as Kate McKinnon said so beautifully last night, I’m not giving up, and neither should you.