Emerging from the depths

So, yeah. I wrote that post title on Sunday. 

Just goes to show how accurately I predicted my week. As in, I was completely and totally wrong. The depths – of work, of worrying about our country and its future, of worrying about other “life things” – are still very much pulling me in, despite my best efforts to extract myself. 

When I wrote that title, I was focusing mostly on work. I thought I was past the nuttiest time of the semester, as I had finished the vast majority of my guest lectures, wrapped up one course, and only had one remaining. And then I realized just how much there still is for that one course. Not to mention my service on multiple committees and groups. So yeah, not quite done yet. 

I am thrilled with the outcome of the presidential election (might as well just put it out there). The last four years have been interminable for those of us who could not believe that a completely unqualified toddler with no experience, or even interest, in serving the country could be elected president over such a vastly better qualified and competent candidate. And yet. Here we are. Sunday, I was feeling pretty good. Today? I’m not so sure. I left a comment on Susanne’s blog that commended her for stepping away from news and social media… for I find myself doom scrolling and seeking any glimmers of hope that T*****’s attempts to steal a lawful election from the voters will fail. I know this is bad – for my mental health and for getting all that other stuff I referred to up there ^^^. I’m working on it. But it is hard. I want to believe this will all come out right in the end, but I could have done without the prolonged anxiety. Taking another deep breath this morning, willing myself to put down my phone, and focus on what I CAN do. Obsessing about Michigan a, won’t change anything, and b, just makes me anxious. 

I found this quote from John Steinbeck in an email from … last week? I think? From James Clear. His 3-2-1 newsletter is one of the best out there, if you are looking for a weekly dose of insight. It helps… to remember we have come to this point before and emerged unscathed. I have to have hope that will happen again. 

Not that I have lost any hope. All the goodness and the heroisms will rise up again, then be cut down again and rise up. It isn’t that the evil thing wins — it never will — but that it doesn’t die. I don’t know why we should expect it to. It seems fairly obvious that two sides of a mirror are required before one has a mirror, that two forces are necessary in man before he is man. 

~John Steinbeck

6 thoughts on “Emerging from the depths

  1. Me, too. I just want to make it through all of this electoral college rigmarole. Sigh. An overgrown toddler with a bad dye job and a fake tan… throwing a tantrum. Good grief. I can't imagine what other countries are thinking of us right now. Maybe I don't want to, now that I think about it. And thanks for commenting. I'm so glad to know I'm not alone in this!

  2. I know what you mean about being so anxious about what could happen with all these court cases and such. It doesn't surprise me that Trump is being such a baby about it, but it's still disappointing that so many Republican leaders are standing behind him. I am so relieved that Georgia and Pennsylvania certified their results so there's no pathway to victory for Trump (not that there ever was). A big sigh of relief, though!

  3. There have been many times in the last (interminable) four years that I have wished I had dual citizenship. I cannot imagine what other countries think of us. It's likely I don't want to know. I cannot wait to turn the page.

  4. Huge sigh of relief, definitely. The Republicans who are sticking with him are almost worse in some ways. Here in WI, as the recount (and insane challenges) continue, the Republican "leadership" promotes and encourages it.

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