Sometimes Things Just Suck
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#posts #politicsCW: Death, grief and politics
Earlier this year, I attended the funeral of a friend who died too young of cancer. I stood around at the wake with other friends, unsure of what to say or do. Someone cleared their throat:
'This is shit.'
We all agreed immediately. It was shit. It was a relief to hear someone say it out loud.
This year has been difficult for many other reasons. The US election result was the cherry on top. I spent the day breathing slow and deep, trying to resist catastrophising. Mostly, I wasn't successful.
If I've learnt anything this year is that you have to face down your emotional reality and be honest about where things stand. You can't look on the bright side of everything and it's damaging to do so. Sometimes, things are rubbish. You have to acknowledge that.
I wish the result of the US election was different. I wish our country wasn't so easily influenced by an election over an ocean. I wish the cancer treatment had worked. But wishing denies reality as it actually is and avoids confronting what is actually happening.
So, the US has willingly elected a facist, white supremacist rapist who has promised to be a dictator from day one and who attempted to overthrow the last election. It's a terrible, no good result, not just for the US but for the rest of the world.
Action will follow. Hope will follow. But the first step to accept the reality: this is shit.
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