This is very useful and insightful. It reminds me of something some guy from Asissi said about courage to change the things I can. Ultimately the only person we can change is ourselves. You nailed it with this one.
Thanks Deborah. You have, as usual, hit several nails squarely on the head and made an excellent point. One thing that we must all keep in mind over the next period of time is that no matter what the political world tries to do to us, we need not give in. There is a great deal of negative that they can inflict on us, but the worst they can do is kill us, and that will defeat their goal of having willing supporters to increase their stock of whatever they regard as riches. We cannot be forced to hate, belittle, pollute, or otherwise injure each other or the world around us and every time one of us does the opposite of what would be dictators tell us to, we make the world better instead of worse and we weaken them just a bit. As we learned from Tienanmen Square, if enough of us stand up to them often enough, they will back down because at heart they are weak and afraid to face their own fears, let alone the fearless strength of others.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend and have a wonderful Holiday Season including a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year.
I know you find this election result very painful. I didn’t vote for Trump. But…more people did than voted for Harris and, strangely, compared with 2016, I find this comforting at some level. This is how democracy works. I think many of the 75+ million people that voted for Trump could answer your questions posed about self and identity and values in an honest way and be happy with the answers in the same way you can. Mostly, people don’t disagree about the problems that need to be solved. They disagree about how to solve them. As much as I deplore the nominations of Gaetz and Gabbard, I love the nominations of Lutnick, Wright, Burgum, Bessent and Zeldin. I am planning to spend the next four years figuring out and being curious about the alternative path that the majority of the country has chosen. I am not shocked. But I am very curious and choosing to remain optimistic in the American people - even the ones I disagreed with at the ballot box. Thanks for what you write!
This is very useful and insightful. It reminds me of something some guy from Asissi said about courage to change the things I can. Ultimately the only person we can change is ourselves. You nailed it with this one.
Be who you expect yourself and want yourself to be. Don’t let someone else define you!
Thanks Deborah. You have, as usual, hit several nails squarely on the head and made an excellent point. One thing that we must all keep in mind over the next period of time is that no matter what the political world tries to do to us, we need not give in. There is a great deal of negative that they can inflict on us, but the worst they can do is kill us, and that will defeat their goal of having willing supporters to increase their stock of whatever they regard as riches. We cannot be forced to hate, belittle, pollute, or otherwise injure each other or the world around us and every time one of us does the opposite of what would be dictators tell us to, we make the world better instead of worse and we weaken them just a bit. As we learned from Tienanmen Square, if enough of us stand up to them often enough, they will back down because at heart they are weak and afraid to face their own fears, let alone the fearless strength of others.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend and have a wonderful Holiday Season including a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year.
Hope you don’t mind if l share your thoughts with my family.
I know you find this election result very painful. I didn’t vote for Trump. But…more people did than voted for Harris and, strangely, compared with 2016, I find this comforting at some level. This is how democracy works. I think many of the 75+ million people that voted for Trump could answer your questions posed about self and identity and values in an honest way and be happy with the answers in the same way you can. Mostly, people don’t disagree about the problems that need to be solved. They disagree about how to solve them. As much as I deplore the nominations of Gaetz and Gabbard, I love the nominations of Lutnick, Wright, Burgum, Bessent and Zeldin. I am planning to spend the next four years figuring out and being curious about the alternative path that the majority of the country has chosen. I am not shocked. But I am very curious and choosing to remain optimistic in the American people - even the ones I disagreed with at the ballot box. Thanks for what you write!
Beautiful. As always. I wish you had office hours. Today.