Sadness

I would normally never write anything political related.  I am not an avid follower of public policy, the government, nor do I, or would I, ever follow political leaders on social media.  I’ve never called myself a republican or democrat and refuse to because the world is not black and white and parties have done everything to make me agree with them at times and disagree with them at other times.  I’ve voted in four elections now and none have left me feeling like this one.  This is the only one I actually feel sad about.  And I just need to write it down to get it out and move on.

Last night it was all just disbelief and of course a lot of fear for what this election means for our country.  Also concern for the major division that is now wholly apparent in our country.  This is where I am the most sad.  Having grown up in a diverse and accepting community, being proud of the diverse demographics and appreciation of everything from athletics, academics, the arts, etc. in my high school, and having best friends who are immigrants molded my apparently unique beliefs.  Continuing on to a school which, though maybe not as diverse as the University of Texas, but one where absolutely no one is ignored or discounted for their beliefs, backgrounds or ideas kept me believing that the country was “fixed”.  And now living in Seattle that is so progressive it’s unreal, I have a very hard time accepting that so many people live in hate and fear of these changing times.

That’s what makes me the most sad deep down but the only thing that has brought tears to my eyes was reading Hillary’s statement this morning in which she says, “To all the little girls who are watching this, never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your dreams”.  Something about this breaks my heart.    I’ve never been a feminist and hate getting asked about being a women in a male-dominated field like engineering.  Yet I was excited to have a woman leader.  I wanted a fresh perspective, a fresher perspective than I think Trump brings to the table.  I think women have a lot of value in leadership and I want women and men to have confidence in that.  Now unfortunately I do believe that it will be a long time coming before the country can accept having a woman lead them.  And I do believe that had Hillary been a man the “scandals” that she committed would have been dusted under the table.  It really does knock my female-self down a rung or two and that hurts and I can’t believe any woman could vote for a man as inappropriate like Donald Trump.

I’m trying to remind myself that sometimes the best things come from the underrated and unexpected rather than getting yourself let down by the overrated.  I believe that our country will not let crazy run amok and I am putting my hope in the president elect.  I hope the transparency that came out of this election was done for a reason and I really hope that little girls can still believe in their dreams

Chelsea