What I hate about #45
is what he stands for, how he behaves, as I don’t think it is what we need as a people, to thrive… survive.
And I hate that he brings out hate within me. It is not who I want to be. And the hate in me is met with the hate in you. Well the you who still latches on to the lunacy of #45. (Maybe it makes more sense to you because the lunacy, based in fantasy, conspiracy, and supremacy, is perhaps more palatable than real life, which is hard and scary. So sure, why not?(I don’t actually mean that.)
I wonder how the last four years have changed me. Did my heart hold as much hate in 2016 as it does now?
This hate is mine to own. #45 isn’t at fault.
Today, with a broken heart, I seek clarity: now what?
I/we can’t stay stuck in this hate and division. It collapses our will to act in cohesive, loving ways. Collapses us as a people, as a community.
I deeply believe #45 stands for division, for the very hate that I hate, and for greed (greed that is so self serving it soul crushes) of one another and of the planet- and he stands for deception to that gain. He’s a lying machine, for greed and hate.
And for the record, I believe #45 is a victim of complex childhood trauma. He was not born the way he is, but the way he is, is how he survives. This does not excuse his behavior. But #45 is a shell of a person that is subconsciously acting out the narcissistic abuse he experienced from his parents, maybe handed down from the parents of his parents. We know this narcissism didn’t start with Donald, or Fred, for that matter.
The very trauma #45 experienced is playing out in his presidency, and traumatizing us, all of us.
We can’t heal Trump’s past but we must deal with the outcome of his trauma and not perpetuate it. That is to say, find hope, find strength, that this experience we are living is ours to survive. And thrive.
I deeply believe we are One and will thrive as a people, by finding compassion for each of our selves, for each other, and for Mother Earth.
We must admit and address the toll the hate and greed takes on ‘our’ Earth, as we pillage her, detached from harmony with her; the toll on each of us as we might treat others as less than, the toll this hate and greed take on the collective us. The toll is daunting.
In the daunting, let’s show up for ourselves, as a collective humanity, first. (Like Gandhi said: Be the change you want to see in the world).
And I’m not there. How I am handling myself today is the opposite. I’m a walking hate bomb (that might be a bit harsh). And I am exhausted and depleted. I’m not showing up on this planet how I want to.
I want to show up with more courage, more energy, and more ferocity to fight the good fight. To fight hate with love. To fight the greed with remembering what is enough. To live on this planet in more grace.
Can you relate?
What I will try, no what I will do instead, is notice the hate #45 brings out within me, and sit with it long enough to transform it to Love.
A Love that can fuel the very actions that mirror my character ( my view): compassionate, loving and fierce in my social justice, with the hopeful side effect- a burning off of this insidious hate.
Might you pause long enough to consider joining me? This isn’t going to be easy, but what we’re doing isn’t working.
By increasing our loving, Self-compassion we can be more loving in our families. We can bring this compassion to our communities. To our world, to our planet.
Let’s do this. Heal thy Self. Heal thy Family. Heal thy Community. Thy world, thy planet.
We’ll never get it perfect, but what we’ve got now is unsustainable.
When you show up at the polls, choose officials who stand for humanity/compassion/and empathy before profit.
When you experience anger or despair, take a deep, slow belly breath (through the nose, which initiates a relaxation response) to calm yourself down, then rest with intention to transform your energy from pain to living power, and then ask yourself what can I do or say, or not do or say, to manage this experience toward living a more loving, compassionate intentional life?
We are stronger together.
Vote.
