I Am Ready

I had another post ready to go for today but when the news finally came that Joe Biden had defeated Donald Trump in the United States election, I felt compelled to change course and write a new post.

I’m not even American but I can’t tell you the relief I felt at hearing that Biden and Kamala Harris will be in the White House come January 20, 2021. Ninety percent of the Canadian population lives within 160 kilometers (100 miles) of the Canada – U.S. border, and our economies and lives are very intertwined. What happens in America affects Canada greatly. In fact, our border is still closed because America can’t seem to get its act together to fight Covid 19. Cases are rising in Canada but in the United States they are out of control and each day seems to set a new record. It’s absolutely devastating.

I am done with the chaos. I am done with the pettiness and selfishness that seems to be so commonplace these days. I am done with money being the be all and end all of absolutely everything. I am done with greed and disregard for human decency. I am done with spite and vindictiveness.

It’s exhausting and I am done.

I am ready for a time of calm. A time where people can be respectful of one another, regardless of race or religion. Where it’s not okay to rip children from their parents and put them in cages like animals. I am ready for a time when people are open to differences and the world evolves beyond the parameters of simply black and white. There are many colours in the spectrum, and I am ready for a time when we can be any colour we want to be and live our lives outwardly and with pride, no matter who we are.

I am ready for a woman in a role of leadership. I am ready for a woman to be at the table, not just serving the coffee and bringing the biscuits. I am ready for a woman to lead the way and show the world what women are capable of. For too long, we have been forced to take a back seat. We’ve been “shushed” and “hushed” and told that our opinions don’t matter. Let me assure you, they do. I am ready for a time when a woman of colour is the Vice President of the United States. When a woman of colour is prominent on the world stage, where she cannot be ignored, where she cannot be dismissed, where she cannot be shut down.

I am ready.

I am ready to feel hopeful again. I am ready to feel inspired again. I am ready to inspire others again. I didn’t realize how much the past four years had affected me personally – in a psychological and emotional way, and how Trump and his administration had sucked the life and positivity out of me, like a slow toxic and noxious drip. Everyday a tweet. Everyday something new. Everyday more hate.

Yesterday, I was exhausted. Today, I have energy. Today I have spunk, and I can feel my mojo a little more than I did the day before. I understand the world still has a lot of work to do, but the first step has been taken, and you can’t take a second step, unless you’ve taken the first, and that’s the true meaning of today.

The world looks to America as a beacon of democracy and freedom. They are the land of hope and dreams. The past four years have strained that relationship and turned that dream into a nightmare. To see Americans at least attempt to right their ship and correct that wrong is inspiring. To see voters resoundingly give the boot to right-wing extremism, not only helps America, it helps all of us because it delegitimizes the cause, and these groups will slink away to hide under their logs again, just waiting for the next opportunity.

I am ready for them never to have another opportunity. I am ready, for once, for the world to learn from the past, and finally stop making the same mistakes over and over and over. I understand how these groups use fear and hate to fuel their rise, and it will be a momentous challenge to stem their rise because they are persistent. But I am ready.

I am ready to take on fear and anger. I am ready for unity, and wholeheartedness and compassion. I am ready for decency and empathy. God I am so ready for empathy and looking beyond our own selfish wants and needs. I am ready for leaders to listen and respond with benevolence. So much has been lost. So many lives gone, so many hearts broken. The world is on fire. Literally. I am ready for science and experts and doing what is best for the people and the planet, not what makes someone the most money.

Things will not change overnight. They never do but the importance of this moment, and the history of this moment is a good place to start. Like I said, there is a lot of work to do. There are a lot of wrongs to right. There is a lot of hurt to heal. But I truly believe that we as human beings and as citizens of this earth, we can do it. We can make the changes we need to make to give hope and peace to this great planet of ours. If we can heal the heart and find some common ground between the vast differences between us all, then there is nothing we can’t do as a people.

I am ready. Are you?