we're all in this together

Ok, so this week didn't turn out exactly like we had hoped. I was all ready to wax poetic about glass ceilings and historical moments while recalling the spirit of Sister Joan, the super-liberal nun who taught me world history in high school and kept a giant poster of Rosie the Riveter outside her classroom. I was preparing to babble on about how tears sprang to my eyes as I filled in the bubble next to who I thought was going to be the first female president and how I blasted Beyoncé as I walked down the street and how I kept thinking about what a privilege it is to be a woman in this country and have the right to vote. I mean, I now have 12 (twelve!!) Vote for Her buttons that I have no idea what to do with, for god's sake. But that post will remain unwritten, at least for the next four years (or 1,452 days to be exact...but who's counting?). Until then, we need to grieve and to commiserate. We need to let ourselves be baffled and confused. We need to allow the anger and hurt that's bubbling inside of us be let out, but we need to do all of these things together and productively. We cannot perpetuate the hate. We cannot shut out those we do not understand. We must create lines of dialogue and open conversations no matter how hard that may be. We need to look our cousins (or brothers or aunts or mother's best friend's sisters) in the eye and empathize with their frustrations and work to understand why they voted the way they did. And then we need to rally and get our sh!t together and never let this happen again.

Tomes have already been written in an attempt to unpack this election, but to help you sift though them all here are a few articles that have helped me the most:

*What Will I Tell My Children?

*Dear daughters

*A huge part of why I'm angry

*Channel that anger into something good - this and this can help you figure out your next step

*Wear a safety pin

*She's gonna be ok

*And finally, something silly because we need to laugh