Relief and Challenge

I am somewhat reassured to have Joe Biden, as President-elect, beginning to assume the mantle of leadership. Even as Trump holes up in the White House refusing to acknowledge defeat, Biden is, very publicly, gathering his team and setting them to work. How long will the Congressional Republicans allow Trump to pout and obstruct before they insist he acknowledge the obvious? Given their behavior over the past four years, I am not hopeful.

National Republican officials are on a high-speed train with no brakes that is headed toward an immoveable object. Their only decision is when to get off the train. With a leader who operates through fear, ridicule and bullying, it’s hard to know when it’s safe to turn away. Probably never. But I keep hoping that some of them are actually working behind the scenes to promote an orderly transition of power. We’ll see.

In the meantime, I am enjoying the spate of articles in which Biden is saying reasonable things, is talking about ‘lowering the temperature’, and is using his position as President-elect to call our country to unite to slow the spread of the corona virus. In my universe, Trump’s voice has already dramatically receded. I know he continues tweeting and carrying on, but it’s fainter—more and more obviously the disconnected ramblings of a deeply disturbed individual. And while his most vociferous followers will continue to live in the paranoid fear of all things Democratic (and democratic?), my hope is that a number of those who voted for Trump begin to trust the evidence of what Biden is saying and doing.

As the wild anxiety of the past few months begins to tentatively settle, I’m aware of the shifts in my internal universe. I know we’re not out of the woods yet, that Trump will continue to cause as much damage as he can on his way out, but we’re clearly headed in the right direction and I’m appreciating the sense of hopefulness and possibility I’m feeling. But I’m not yet ready to let my guard down.

I’ve become accustomed to a certain level of distress. These past four years and especially these past six months have created a new level of normal for my internal systems. I’m used to bracing myself every time I read the paper or listen to the news. Am I willing to allow the perpetual defensive arousal to subside somewhat? I don’t want to fall back into assuming that someone else will do the job of resistance of injustice and the hard work of social change, but I want to lower the temperature of my internal operating system.

Even with a new President and a government that values reason and collaboration, we are still facing dire issues. Virus rates are rising in almost every state in the country and the coming winter may make it even worse. Police reforms have stalled everywhere as the depth of resistance and the complexity of the problem of systemic racism have become more evident. Many people are suffering economically from the pandemic induced recession and our ‘American’ way of life continues to be based on a level on environmental destruction that has catastrophic implications for this planet and ourselves.

We should all breathe a sigh of relief and appreciate the magnitude of Biden’s victory of decency and truthfulness (not to mention science)—and then begin to pivot to creating sustainable lives of ongoing engagement in this precious and fragile world.